I Would Do Anything for Love
by Wrabbit75
Summary: Beginning a few days after the end of The Teacher, the Sorceress, and the Wonderbolt, Twilight and her marefriends have to figure out how to live together, and with everypony else on a more permanent basis. How will they accomplish this? With compromise, understanding, and an unhealthy dose of love.
1. Chapter 1

**I WOULD DO ANYTHING FOR LOVE**

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Chapter 1: Third Time's the Charm

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Twilight giggled as the soft kisses trailed down the back of her neck and shrugged her shoulders in an attempt to shake off her aggressor. Her attention returned to the carpentry book laid out before her on the floor, and she jotted down some notes on a piece of paper next to it absentmindedly. The kisses returned again, this time accompanied by some nibbles on her ear; the other ear, in fact; at the _same time_. Giggling again, Twilight ducked out of their reach and turned to look at her molesters. "Girls, I'm _never_ going to finish designing our new bed if you keep this up; and _then_ where will we sleep?"

Trixie, who was laying half on top of Twilight and had her forelegs wrapped around her neck just licked the mare's cheek. "Mm... Trixie thinks that as long as you are there, the floor is just fine by her."

Cheerilee, who was laying on Twilight's _other_ half with her own forelegs wrapped around Twilight's neck _over_ Trixie's, gently breathed into her ear, "S'true, my gnarly Dexter. We would happily sleep in a dag gravel pit as long as _you_ were there." She punctuated this remark by gently combing the librarian's mane with her teeth.

Shuddering from the exquisite feeling of being groomed in such an intimate manner, Twilight's eyes lost focus and crossed for a moment. The last time she had groomed like this, she had been just a little filly, nervous about starting her tutelage under the Princess the next day; so her mother, Twilight Velvet groomed her mane and sang to her until she fell asleep. It was one of her most treasured memories, since she didn't get to see nearly as much of her after that.

And now, here she was getting the same treatment, but with far different feelings behind it. As the earth pony grabbed another mouthful of mane and pulled the locks through her teeth, the gentle pressure felt even better than a scalp massage to Twilight. She closed her eyes and groaned in pleasure and wondered what Trixie was going to do. Her question was answered with a series of kisses and licks on her throat, just where her jaw line met her neck. She exhaled a shuddering breath, trying to find her voice again.

"Ch... Cheery, Trixie, please... If I don't finish... these designs today... we'll have to wait... until after the... Running of the Leaves... to get our bed made..." Twilight gasped out.

"And wouldn't _that_ be a shame?" A new, but familiar voice asked, startling all three mares. "Almost as bad as not waiting for me to start the fun."

With surprising strength and alacrity, Twilight stood, leaving Trixie and Cheerilee down on the floor in undignified heaps. "Spitfire! Welcome home!" She ran over to her other marefriend at the door, giving her a hug and a deep kiss on the lips.

The kiss was eagerly returned, and they spent well over a full minute just standing there in their embrace. When they finally separated, Twilight huskily asked, "Any trouble getting your request through?"

Looking into Twilight's eyes, Spitfire grinned at her. "Of course, not. I _run_ that team. _Requesting_ permission to move, essentially consisted of me _telling_ the Princess that I'm moving in with you. Naturally, she was ecstatic about all four of us living together. You'd think she was trying to marry you off to us or something."

Twilight blushed up to her ears and looked away. "No," Spitfire continued, "the closest thing I had to trouble there was getting Soarin's fat keister out of my chair in my office before he deformed my groove."

"That must be some groove," Cheerilee stage whispered into Spitfire's ear.

"Trixie agrees. With a flank _this_ tight," Trixie said with a smack on said flank for emphasis, "that groove must be awe-inspiring."

The pegasus whirled around to face the other two mares, truly shocked that they had snuck up on her so stealthily. "Hey! Watch the hooves!" she admonished.

Trixie walked behind Cheerilee, giving her a sultry look. "Chill out, Spitfire. No need to live up to your name around _us_."

The teacher nuzzled up to the azure unicorn and rested her head on Trixie's flank, giving Spitfire that same look. "Totally. Don't be so heinous. Like, take a chill pill."

Without taking her eyes away from Spitfire's, Trixie leaned down and licked at Cheerilee's flank just above her cutie mark before gently biting down on it, leaving a small mark on the coat. Cheerilee in return, never let her feral grin wander from the pegasus as she started for the door. "Let's bounce, crucial babe," she said to Trixie. "We need to jet if we want to score those ace sweets for dessert tonight."

Trixie followed her out. "Trixie is..." She paused at the door, looked Spitfire directly in the eye and licked her lips as she said, "..._coming_." And with that, she was gone.

Spitfire finally realized that her jaw was hanging open and closed it. "What the _buck_ was _that _all about?"

Shrugging in genuine confusion, Twilight answered, "Search me. I woke up this morning to those two practically dry humping me, and it's been nonstop since then. It was only because we agreed that sex couldn't happen without all of us present that I was able to keep them at bay at all."

"And did you understand what Cheerilee was saying? I haven't heard some of those words since I was a little filly."

Twilight nodded. "More or less. At least I got her to stop using that absurd valley filly accent. That got old quick, I don't mind saying," she said as her eyes rolled.

Spitfire nuzzled up to her, rubbing their cheeks together. "Poor baby. Sounds like you've had a rough day," she noted sympathetically.

Backing up a few steps, Twilight said, "I hope you don't take this the wrong way, but I _really_ need a little space right now. Having two hot mares literally hanging off of you isn't as comfortable as it sounds after the second or third hour."

Spitfire took her hoof in both of hers and kissed it. "Consider it done, My Star. Take this opportunity to dash off to one of your friend's places while they're out to finish your little project; and I'll run interference for you."

Twilight blushed fiercely at the gesture, but looked worried. "I hope you don't take this to mean that I'm tiring of any of you. I love you all now just as much as I did when this all started, but..."

"Oh, pfft," Spitfire retorted. "As much as I worship the ground you walk on, I know that we _all_ need our space as well." She made a shooing motion with her hooves. "Now scoot before they get back. We'll all four of us talk this over when you get back. Just make sure you're back in time for dinner."

Twilight kissed the golden mare's nose and turned to collect her books and notes. "Thanks, Hot Stuff. I'll be back in a few hours when I complete the design and turn it in to Mister Wheelwright over at the sawmill." With a wink at her co-marefriend, she disappeared with a teleporting flash of light.

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( . .)

*(")(")

Twilight walked through the middle of the Apple family's orchard with a song in her heart. Taking a deep breath of fresh air, she smiled contentedly and looked around for either Applejack or her brother, Big Macintosh. A solid _**THWACK**_ sound followed by many dimmer thumps drew her attention in the direction of the Everfree forest, and she spotted a familiar spot of orange picking up apples that missed the baskets set out.

Happily trotting over, she gave a loud, "Hey, Applejack!"

The farmer stood upright and looked towards her caller. She gave a wave as her friend approached and leaned against the tree. "Well, howdy there, Twilight. What brings yah out to these parts? Finally comin' up for air?"

Twilight turned red and covered her face with her hooves. "Oh, Celestia. Does everypony know?"

Applejack smirked at her embarrassment. "Weeelll, Ah wouldn't go so far as to say that _every_pony knows; just the folk who live in Ponyville. And the Princesses. Oh, and that one poor feller what was walking by the library when the four of yah were... "in the throes of passion" as Rarity put it. Yah really should learn to close your windows. Especially since one of yah seems to feel the need to wail and holler like a long tail cat in a room full of rockin' chairs."

The librarian gave her a half-serious glare over her hooves. "You've just been itching to use that one, haven't you?"

"Does Rainbow Dash like to brag about her an' Pinkie?" she shot back with a grin.

Rolling her eyes, Twilight asked, "_Aaannny_ways, do you mind if I use your place to do a little work?"

Cocking her head to the side, Applejack asked, "Well, sure yah can, but what's wrong with your place?"

"Because I can't get a bit of work done there. Every time I try, I get... sidetracked," the lavender mare replied.

Applejack's eyes popped open in shock. "Wait, wait, wait. Yah mean to tell me, that in the past three days since yah..."

"Resolved my issues?" Twilight supplied.

"Right. That in the past three days, yah four haven't... yah know... taken a break?"

Twilight sat down and put a forehoof to her chest. "I'll have you know that I love my marefriends deeply, and don't want _any_ of them to feel... neglected." She looked to the sky and coughed behind her hoof. "Besides, for some of us, it's our first, uh, relationship. Of any kind."

The earth pony's eyes rolled heavenward as well. "Oh, sweet Celestia. It's a wonder one of yah haven't come out of there with a broke hip yet." She looked closer at a mark on Twilight's neck and grinned again as she pointed it out. "Looks like you're officially off the market though. _Some_pony's done laid claim to yah." The orange mare then looked again, this time closer, and noted that it wasn't the only one of it's kind. "Stars above, filly, you need to tell them to ease up on yah. Yah look like yah took a tumble down a hill... in a gravel pit... twice."

Rubbing her hoof on the back of her head, Twilight chuckled nervously and blushed. "Aheh. Yeah, they tend to get a little... carried away sometimes."

Nodding, Applejack said, "Well, you're free to use the house, but the barn may be more to your likin' today. Granny's in the kitchen makin' preserves, an' she's a might particular about what's done on the table at the moment."

Twilight walked past her with a sheepish smile. "Thanks, AJ. I promise I'll be out of your mane before you know it."

Applejack caught a familiar whiff as she walked past. "You're welcome to stay as long as yah need, Twi, but could yah do us both a favor?"

"Anything, Applejack," she replied with a smile. "What do you need?"

The farmer pointed towards a rain barrel next to the barn. "Yah mind takin' a dunk a'fore doin' anythin' else? Yah smell like... well, yah smell like yah've been ruttin' for three days straight, an' I don' want Apple Bloom learnin' 'bout these things that way."

Twilight facehoofed and turned red from fresh embarrassment. She gave a mumbled apology and raced over to the structure that would serve as her study for the day.

Applejack smiled at her, genuinely happy for her happiness, but a familiar itch brought on by the intoxicating scent made her think of her own marefriend. The smile broke into a grin when she spied a familiar white pony strolling up the lane, wide brimmed hat shading her delicate features. _Well, speak of the devil._

Rarity raced up when she spotted Applejack, letting her hat fly off. She crashed into her, pinning her to the apple tree behind her, and kissed her deeply. Applejack's forehooves went to the diamond cutie marks, rubbing them with undue haste; which for once, didn't get an irritated response from the seamstress. The unicorn kissed her way down the farmer's neck, breathing in her musky scent, while Applejack delighted in the perfumed mare's mane. "You'll never guess what I saw today," she gasped between kisses.

"Mmm. What, Marshmallow?" was all Applejack could manage.

Rarity grinned at her use of the pet name. She rested her head on the farmer's strong chest, listening to the heartbeat of her life. "Trixie and Cheerilee in Sugarcube corner."

Things were falling into place in Applejack's mind, but she played along, because she knew how much her marefriend loved a juicy bit of gossip. "So?"

Unperturbed by Applejack's seemingly blasé response, she continued, nuzzling and delighting in the feel of the rippling chest muscles. "So, they were hanging off of each other and smelling of _sex_." This last word was practically whispered as if there was anypony else in the orchard that could overhear them. "They ordered some pastries to go, then shared an eclair, right there in front of everypony."

The fact of _those_ two hanging off of each other was indeed news to the earth pony, but the last sentence confused her. "So they shared a doughnut. So what?"

Looking up at her lover, their eyes met. "Applejack, darling, they ate it at the same time... _without_ cutting it in half." She let the implications set in and smiled when she saw her eyes go wide. "When their lips met in the middle, they practically started making out right there in the shop. It was lucky there were no foals around or they would likely have been thrown out." She licked a bead of sweat from the mare's chest with relish. "As it was, when they left, the shop cleared out fairly quickly. I ran over here as fast as was ladylike, because I just had to see you." She stood up again to kiss her again, running her hooves over the mare's strong back.

Applejack pondered telling Rarity about her meeting with Twilight just moments earlier, but decided that it could wait. There was something, no make that some_pony_ more important in front of her right now.

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Walking through the door, Twilight winced at the loud ringing of the bell above it. The noise naturally got the attention of the old stallion bent over a worktable, manually sanding down a rocking chair's seat. He looked up and smiled at the young mare. "Good evening, Miss Sparkle. Here with the finalized plans?"

"Yes, sir. Right here, Mister Wheelwright." Twilight pulled a large, folded up paper from her saddlebags and laid it on the counter next to the till. "I was hoping to go over these with you. I'm planning on laying some enchantments on this when it's finished, so you need to understand why I did some of the things I did here."

The old earth pony wiped his hooves with a dust cloth from his pocket, then took up his station behind the counter. "Of course. I'd expect no less from you, Miss Sparkle. Let's see what you have for me."

Telekinetically unfolding the plans, Twilight explained, "Well, first off, I'm going to be putting an impervious charm on it, to mitigate the wear and tear, and that works best with hardwoods like oak, but I was hoping you'd have some teak in stock."

Wheelwright looked at the dimensions in the plans and did some quick mental calculations. "I believe I have enough for this project. Did you want the whole thing to be teak, just the parts that show, or certain parts of it?"

Twilight put a hoof to her chin in thought. "I suppose I could live with just the parts that show being teak, and the rest white oak. I wouldn't want to deplete your supplies." She looked at him curiously. "Can you stain the oak the same shade as the teak?" He nodded in reply, so she continued, "Excellent! Now the concealed compartments here, here, here, and here," she pointed out the spaces to him, "are going to be magically enlarged, so they need to be lined with cork wood."

She continued explaining the salient points of the construction, even altering her plans at one point at the experienced carpenter's suggestion. After finally settling on a price, she bid him a good afternoon and left. Twilight hadn't gone more than a few steps before quite literally, running into Rainbow Dash. The pegasus wore a blissed-out expression like it was a new hat. Her steps were unsteady and, well to be blunt, bowed. Not watching where she was going, she ran face first into Twilight's rear who was backing out of the carpenter's shop, sending them both to the dirt road.

Rubbing the fresh bruise on her well-chewed posterior, she turned to see what she ran into. "Ow, what was- Dash?"

Rainbow Dash happily lay sprawled in the dirt, smiling goofily at nothing in particular. "Hey, Twi," she replied.

Twilight sat up and pulled her friend into a sitting position. "What in the name of all things equine happened to you?"

"Pinkie..."

The librarian rolled her eyes at the somewhat expected answer. "Figures," she muttered to herself. Speaking aloud, she asked, "Do you want me to walk you home, Rainbow? No offense, but you don't look like you could navigate a straight track with a map and a compass, right now."

"Nah, s'all good."

"Alright, then," she said with a shake of her head. "I need to get back to the library, it's almost dinnertime. You sure you're okay?"

"Fine, go on," Dash answered, still too blissed to notice anything of importance. She was about to turn to leave when she stopped and looked back to her friend. "Oh, and Twilight?"

Twilight paused with one hoof poised to take a step, and looked back as well. "Yes, Rainbow?"

For the first time, the pegasus's eyes uncrossed and looked straight at the lavender mare. "Tell Trixie and Cheerilee that me and Pinkie said 'thanks for the show'," then walked away.

Watching her friend walk away, Twilight turned over what she had said. She then noticed the bow-legged walk, and put all the clues together, coming up with the correct conclusion. Her eyes went wide, and she dashed for the library as fast as she could. She also noticed several other ponies with expressions and gaits similar to Rainbow Dash's, many of whom waved or just smirked at her. As she passed one stallion, she could swear she heard him say, "Lucky mare."

Twilight burst through the front door of the library in a panic, only to find... nothing amiss. The only presence in the main lobby was Spike sitting glumly on the couch, his head in his hands. As calmly as possible, she closed the door and walked over to him. He didn't seem to take any note of her. "Spike?"

Without taking his head from his hands, he looked up at her. Perhaps glared at her would be more accurate. "Twilight," he deadpanned in greeting.

"What's wrong, number one assistant?" she asked, petting the spines on his head.

He sat up and batted her hoof away. "As if you didn't know. Ever since those three have been here, you've hardly spent _any_ time with me. It was bad enough when you just left me behind when you went out on adventures with your friends, but now, the only time I get to even _talk_ to you is through that door," he pointed towards the stairs for emphasis.

Twilight sat on the couch next to him and put a foreleg over his shoulders. "I'm sorry Spike. I never meant to neglect you," She hugged him close, and this seemed to ease some of the bristling he had been aiming at her. "Please understand that this kind of relationship is all new to me, and the four of us are still trying to find ways to make this work. None of us intended to exclude you, but we need to find where we all fit in with each other; before we can find how to make _that_ work with everything about us from before we... got together."

Spike looked up at her with wet, dewy eyes. "Is it gonna take much longer, though? I really miss you. We haven't even done a friendship report to the Princess in over a week."

Smiling down at the baby dragon, she said, "Why don't we do one right now? I think I just learned a rather good lesson just a second ago."

Spike pulled a quill and paper from the couch cushions and turned to face her. He saw the surprised look on her face that turned into a chuckle, and asked, "What? I never know when you'll be ready to dictate a letter to the Princess."

Twilight just smiled and began composing the letter.

_Dear Princess Celestia,_

_I apologize for the lack of Friendship Reports lately, but as you know, my life has been undergoing some drastic changes lately. However, my number one assistant has reminded me of my neglected duties, and taught me a valuable lesson today._

_Making new friends and deepening the relationships with them is all well and good; but you shouldn't forget the friends you already have. In the rush of discovering the new levels that love can take me, it has come to my attention that I have been negligent in my attentions to the ones I loved beforehoof. I can only imagine the pain I've caused them, but rest assured that I will redress my wrongs, and stand vigilant to make sure that no such inattentiveness happens again._

_On that note, I would like to extend an invitation to you and Princess Luna to join us for an after-race party this weekend at the library, directly after the Running of the Leaves. It will be a small, intimate affair; so just the bare minimum of guards will be needed. Just be aware that Pinkie-Pie will likely have them partying to by the end of it, so plan accordingly._

_Your Faithful Student,_

_Twilight Sparkle_

Spike rolled up the scroll with a ribbon and breathed his green flames, sending it on its way. He then ran up to her and embraced her tightly. "I'm sorry too, Twilight. I didn't even think of how difficult this must be for you too."

Twilight nuzzled back at him happily. "No Spike, this one is all my fault. I keep forgetting that though you're growing up, you're still a baby dragon, and need my attention too." She looked him in the eyes. "You might want to take this as an opportunity to widen your own circle of friends, as well. Don't you like hanging out with Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo?"

He scratched the back of his head and shuffled his feet. "Yeah, I guess so. They _are_ kinda fun if you don't mind all the tree sap they seem to attract."

The librarian took note of the slight blush and silly grin when she mentioned the fillies' names, but decided to keep quiet about it. "Now then. Do you know where my mares are?"

Spike jerked his thumb towards the stairs. "In your room, naturally. Trixie said they had something to discuss with Spitfire."

Spike only got a quick glimpse of the terror on her face before she disappeared up the stairs, muttering "Horseapples, horseapples, horseapples!"

Shocked, he put a claw up to his mouth and called after her, "Keep using language like that, and I'm telling the Princess!" _If I can't do it, neither can she!_

Twilight barged into her room, not even bothering to knock, to find the scene she had been dreading. Spitfire was tied, face-up on the bed with a gag in her mouth. She recognized the gag as actually being her only good pair of silk panties that she had been saving for a special occasion, which had only been worn once before. They had felt so sensual and naughty, that she wanted to use them only sparingly.

Straddling Spitfire's abdomen, was Trixie, wearing her cape and hat. She was rubbing her forehooves across the pegasus' chest, deliberately rubbing against the lay of her coat, eliciting moans of pleasure. Cheerilee lay next to Spitfire, wearing stockings and a garter belt, her mane done up in a tight bun. She had one hoof under the mare's chin, and was licking her cheek.

Twilight could only facehoof.

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( . .)

*(")(")

_It had been a long time since it had been so soundly defeated, not once, but twice, and so close together! To make matters worse, both times were by the same infuriating pony! Oh sure, she hadn't managed to actually hurt it, but that wasn't the point, now was it? Granted, the second time, she only really played a secondary role in its defeat, but without her butting in, the plan would have worked. It almost did work._

_And now, here it was, soundly beaten, with nothing to show for it. Nothing but a growing hatred for the pony. No one, no one interfered with the its plans. She would pay for what she did, and the setback inflicted upon it. Oh, yes. Twilight Sparkle will __**PAY**__._


	2. Chapter 2

**I WOULD DO ANYTHING FOR LOVE**

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Chapter 2: What's your number?

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Twilight raised her head and sleepily smacked her lips. _What's that familiar taste-_ Looking down, she found her gaze drawn to a maroon mare's... well, marehood below her. The fur of her coat was in disarray, and a heavenly scent wafted up from the organ which was winking at her slightly in time with the mare's breathing. _Oh. Well, that explains that._

Rising to her hooves she stretched first her forelegs, then her rear set as well as her back, letting the vertebrae snap into place. From this vantage point, it was easier to see all of Cheerilee, who was sleeping on her back with one foreleg draped across her chest, and a line of dried drool coming from her mouth- _Oh, wait. That's not drool._ Looking to the other two, Twilight found Spitfire and Trixie, lying in each other's hooves. _How adorable!_ Even as she thought that, the librarian couldn't help but feel a stab of worry. The source of the feeling was a mystery to her, but she couldn't help but chew her lip over it.

Shaking her head to clear it, Twilight quietly made her way over to the bathroom, and surprising Spike as he walked out of it. "Oh! Twilight! Goo...ood morning," he yawned.

"Morning," she mumbled. She was never at her best until she had at least one cup of coffee. She noticed something odd and said, "Spike?"

The dragon paused and turned to her, using a towel to dry his ear fins. "Yeah, Twi?"

Twilight walked over until she stood over him, her head directly above. She startled and stepped back, exclaiming, "Spike! You've grown!"

"I have?" he asked. Standing up straight, he found that he was now almost eye-level with her mouth. "Yes! He hissed as he pumped his fist and performed a little dance.

Twilight stopped him by placing a hoof on his head and turning him to face her. "You haven't been hoarding again, have you?"

Spike waved her concern of with a paw. "Oh, Twilight. That's all behind me now. I wish you'd quit reminding me of that day."

Twilight gave him a quick hug. "I'm sorry, Spike, but I had to make sure."

The dragon returned the hug. "No Problem," he said, then looked carefully at her face. "Um, Twi? You got something on your face. Did you fall asleep onto your teacup again?"

Eyes widening in surprise, then horror as she realized what he was talking about, she desperately clung to the lifeline Spike had inadvertently thrown her. "Huh? Oh, tea! Yes, um, that's exactly what happened. Boy, you sure know me, Spike. Well, I better go clean up, and don't worry about the cup, I'll clean it up later, really!" Still in the early stages of panic mode, the librarian slipped into the bathroom, locking the door behind her, and looked into the mirror.

_Oh, sweet Celestia, I'm a mess!_ Indeed, that was an understatement. The remains of dried fluids clung to her face and horn, turning her coat and bangs into a rat's nest. Turning around, she saw her rear was in no better shape. In fact, everything was on display thanks to her still being so aroused, her tail seemed to be stuck in it's lifted position. Her marehood was red and looked well-bucked, making her blush hard. _Oh, horseapples! I hope Spike didn't see that. That's the last thing I need to do right now is to sit him down and explain the birds and the bees to him._ But deep down, she knew that was exactly what needed to happen. _With what he could potentially be exposed to living under the same roof as the four of us, he's bound to see something not meant for his eyes eventually. Best to nip it in the bud before it becomes a bigger problem._

(\ /)

( . .)

*(")(")

Slowly raising her head from its comfortable resting spot, Spitfire rose, opening her eyes to just slits. She wobbled on her hooves dangerously as she tottered towards the bathroom, intent on relieving the pressure on her bladder. It was only after she had walked in and sat down on the toilet, that she noticed the sound of rain. _Was it scheduled to rain today?_

It was while yawning hugely that Spitfire noticed the steam and the fact that the bathroom was a comfortable temperature, despite the late season. Turning her head to the right, she finally took notice of the shower which was in use, and the familiar humming of Twilight as she bathed. A devious grin crept on to her face, and she quietly slid the curtain open just enough to slip in.

She crept up behind Twilight, who was vigorously shampooing her mane. With great care, she slowly started working the lather in, gradually increasing pressure until her victim gasped and turned around in surprise.

"Spitfire!" Twilight gasped with a hoof over her heart.

The pegasus advanced on Twilight, who backed up until her rump bumped into the wall behind her. Placing a forehoof on either side of the unicorn's head, Spitfire leaned in for a kiss. The water cascaded down the two of them, drenching them both as their tongues danced to a rhythm only the two of them could hear.

Twilight pulled the mare closer, letting her hooves slide around her to the dock of her tail. She mashed and rubbed the well-muscled cheeks in her hooves, then moved back to gently yank and pull the tail, eliciting moans of pleasure from the Wonderbolt.

A blast of cold air took them by surprise as the curtain was yanked open, revealing Trixie and Cheerilee, who stood there with looks of undisguised lust on their faces. Without a word, the two newcomers stepped in and closed the curtain behind them.

The shower head inundated the four mares as Twilight was pressed in on all sides now. All four stood upright on their hind legs with Twilight being licked or kissed by the other three. Trixie and Cheerilee moved her forehooves to their marehoods, rubbing them around until she got the idea and took over the action on her own.

Moans of pleasure and the sounds of licking and wet kisses soon drowned out the falling water, and the steam had as much to do with the temperature of the water as it did the temperature of the warm bodies making all the noise. Spitfire wedged one of her legs in between Twilight's, and started hunching her hips up and down, forward and back, and side-to-side as the mares to either side of them used the lavender mare's hooves in a similar manner. Possession of her mouth changed hooves constantly, with one kiss melding into another, and a few more bite marks were added to the librarian's collection.

A squirt of cold shampoo caused everypony's eyes to shoot open in surprise, even Trixie, who was the one who had applied the white, creamy substance. Between the four bodies rubbing, it wasn't long until a thick lather had been worked up, coating all of them. Forehooves worked the suds into their coats, with special attention paid to sensitive areas.

With all the slippery sliding of wet flesh against flesh, the moans escalated to whines and shallow breaths. The four of them climaxed together, feeding off of each other's high, extending their orgasm to heretofore inexperienced lengths. Their motions slowed to a stop, and Spitfire wheezed out, "We.. should get out... The water's... turning cold..."

Nodding in agreement, Twilight used her telekinesis to shut off the water. One by one, they stepped out of the somewhat cramped stall, and toweled themselves off. When Twilight finished, she cheerily dropped her towel into the laundry hamper and walked out. "I'll go start breakfast. See you girls downstairs!" she said with unseemly energy for somepony who had just had sex with three mares.

Spitfire shook her head in amazement. "How the buck does she do it?"

"I don't know," Cheerilee answered, "but this glam gal is going to enjoy the choice ride for as long as she can stand it." Her tired, but goofy grin was mirrored by Trixie.

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( . .)

*(")(")

"Better hurry up Spike, or we'll leave you behind!" Twilight shouted from the front door. She tapped her forehoof impatiently, mentally counting to twenty. She was about to call again when Spike appeared at the bottom of the stairs, a rolled up sheet of paper in his grasp.

The small dragon ran out the door, pulling it shut behind himself. "Sorry, Twilight," he apologized, "I had to find my application form."

Twilight rolled her eyes as she shook her head. "You know, you don't really _need_ to do that. I'm sure Pinkie will let you commentate with her from the balloon again this year." She turned around and started off towards the town hall, trotting fast to catch up with her marefriends.

"I know, but I want this to be official," Spike replied. "What if there's a talent agent or something out there this time who hears me and wants to recruit me?" He ran a paw over his cranial spines, letting them spring up in a neat row. "How would they find me if they don't know who it was? Did you know that Berry Punch said that I had a really good voice over a microphone? Said I really had a voice for radio," he noted.

Chuckling, Twilight said, "I kinda doubt there's going to be many vocal talent scouts at a marathon race, Spike."

Spike indignantly huffed and crossed his arms over his chest. "You never know. It's _still _possible."

"Yes, and it's possible I'm a time traveling incarnation of a fundamental force of nature, here on a lark; but it's _highly _unlikely," Twilight retorted as they caught up with her marefriends.

"On the contrary," Trixie interjected, "you _are_ an incarnation of a force of nature. You, my dear," she bopped the librarian on the nose gently, "are obviously made of pure _sex_."

With a chuckle, Cheerilee added, "Well, she certainly _tastes_ like it."

Twilight was struck dumb, and Spitfire facehoofed. Spike looked at them, then at his caregiver with a confused expression. Further awkwardness was stemmed by the sudden arrival of Pinkie-Pie and her now constantly-present marefriend. "Good news, everyone! They're allowing two announcers in the balloon officially!"

"I better go sign up before the other slot is taken!" Spike said before running off to the town hall.

The librarian looked to her friends. "So, I take it then that you both signed up for your respective roles already?"

Dash nodded and polished her hoof on her chest. "Yup! I don't like to brag or anything," a collective cough from the group greeted this bit of modesty, which was ignored, "but I managed to land the sexiest number of them all." She presented her number tag proudly to them. "Read it and weep, ladies. Sixty-nine."

Trixie sniffed at her. "Trixie is not impressed. _She_ will be getting number seventy-two."

"And _I_," Cheerilee added with a wink, "will be getting seventy-nine."

As Twilight went to what was becoming her default reaction of facehoof, Pinkie-Pie sidled up to her and whispered into her ear. "Wow, they're bigger horndogs than Dashie. I never even _heard_ of turning those numbers into something sexual."

Twilight just groaned as she trotted faster to the town hall, hoping that forty-two was still open.

(\ /)

( . .)

*(")(")

As she walked in, Twilight noticed one of the ponies was ponying the registration desk and couldn't help but smile. "Afternoon, Amethyst Star. How are things with you?"

The pale magenta unicorn looked up from her paperwork and smiled at her. "Afternoon, Miss Twilight. Everything's pretty good so far. Listen," she leaned forward so they could talk without being overheard from the three other volunteers stationed further down the table. "I wanted to thank you again for talking to the mayor and getting me this job when her old assistant left for Canterlot. Here." She put a rolled up piece of paper into Twilight's hoof as she took the mare's registration form.

Curious, Twilight unrolled the paper to discover that it was a number tag for a racer. For the forty-second racer, in fact. "That is the one, right? I mean, I never read that book myself, so I'm not sure," Amethyst asked.

Twilight's grin allayed her fears. "It's not just from the book, you know." She turned to present her flank and show off her cutie mark. "There are actually forty-two points on all the stars in my cutie mark, so you see, I have a special place in my life for that number."

"Wow, I never thought of that before," the younger unicorn exclaimed. "I wonder if there's a special number hidden in _my_ cutie mark too?" She turned her head to examine her flank.

Chuckling, Twilight waved off her statement. "Oh, it's nothing like that. Forty-two comes up in my life about as often as any other number. Believe me, I've checked. On an average day, three comes up more often than any other number, but that's likely just a trend that occurred over the nearly month-and-a-half long experiment I ran. I just try to get forty-two whenever possible, because the number is special to me."

Twilight felt somepony brushing up against her side as they approached. "Mmm... I missed my rad girl," Cheerilee murmured.

A sheen of sweat appeared on Twilight's forehead. "Cheery, not here," she hissed through clenched teeth, "ponies are watching."

"Let them. They'll have to go get their own Twilights," she retorted. "_This_ one's ours."

Amethyst's eyes widened at the scene before her, and thanked her lucky stars that her mother and Dinky Doo were out shopping at the moment. "Um, Miss Cheerilee? Are you here to register for the race too?"

The teacher glanced at her former pupil through half-lidded eyes as she rubbed cheeks with a nervous Twilight. "Mmm... that and one other thing. I've already registered with one of your assistants, but she said that I need to come to you for this," she said as she hoofed over a paper.

Looking over the paper, Amethyst's eyes widened. "Oh!" she cried with a blush. "I- I didn't realize that... um, that is, you're... ah..." Her stammered reply trailed off into a mumbled apology.

With her eyes still locked onto the younger mare's, the normally staid teacher boldly licked Twilight's cheek, who stood as if petrified. "It's just a change of address, Amethyst Star. Nothing to get juiced over."

Spitfire walked up on the other side of Twilight and hoofed over her own paper. "Minuette said to see you about a change of address?" she asked the stunned mare. When no response was forthcoming, she tapped the desk with a hoof, waking her from her stare. "Hello? Change of address?"

Shaking her head, Amethyst Star took the paper from her. "Of course. Sorry, I-" Her voice froze when she read the new address. "Y-y-y-you mean you're..."

Arching an eyebrow, the pegasus put on her best drill instructor face. "Yyyeeesss?" she drawled.

Thinking fast, Amethyst said, "Yyyooouuu'rrreee gonna love living here! We all do! Right, girls?" She looked to her assistants as her voice went shrill. The other three mares nodded vigorously, scared of the vibes coming from the quietly terrifying Wonderbolt.

A piece of paper surrounded in a magenta aura dropped into the quaking mare's field of vision. "The Great and Powerful Trixie believes that this form is required for your perusal?"

With even wider eyes, Amethyst read through the relevant entries of the form and tried to find her now vacant voice. _All three of them? At_ once_? Then the rumors are true! Celestia, how does she even find the energy to..._ With a blush forming on her cheeks took all three forms and put them away for later filing. "Sooo... you two find our little town to your liking?" she ventured, trying to come up with something to cover the awkward silence filling the air.

"Trixie likes very much. Though to be honest, it's more about the _ponies_ here than the town itself. They're just so... _friendly_," she said as she nibbled on Cheerilee's ear.

Twilight broke the awkward silence that had resettled over them by proclaiming very loudly, "Well, thank you for all your help, Amethyst, we'll see you at the race tomorrow, bye now!" She pushed all three of her marefriends out the door, Trixie and Cheerilee looking as if they were about to orgasm right then and there from the rough treatment.

Minuette sidled up to the younger unicorn, saying in a low voice, "Wow, who'd have thought it, huh?" Shaking her head, she added, "It's always the quiet ones."

(\ /)

( . .)

*(")(")

Twilight didn't stop pushing until they were around the back of the town hall. Once there, she slumped down and heaved a great sigh. Immediately, the other three came forward to offer her comfort. "Hon, what's wrong?" Spitfire asked.

"Just... exhausted," she replied.

"Is there anything we can do to help?" Trixie inquired.

"No..." Twilight answered. "Well... m-maybe?" She looked at them hopefully.

Cheerilee looked at her, close to tears. "Name it, bodacious babe! Anything! Anything at all!"

Twilight nervously shuffled her hooves. "Could you... maybe tone down the flirting in public? Just a teeny scoche?"

Trixie and Cheerilee looked at each other and bowed down low to Twilight. "Your wish is our command, Mistress," they said and kissed her hooves.

Twilight and Spitfire seemed shocked and disturbed by this display. What they found most disturbing was just how much this turned them on. Looking at each other, they nodded simultaneously. Without a further word, Twilight teleported them all to her bedroom, which still hadn't been made up from their last bout of love making, and it looked like it would be a while longer before it was cleaned up.

The lavender mare silently motioned them to stand in a line all facing the balcony window behind her, which she telekinetically closed and curtained off. Her horn glowed again as a magical bubble was erected to block sound from passing either way, and sealing the door from all intrusion. Breathing in deeply, she realized that the room desperately needed to be aired out. The smell of sex hung cloyingly in the air, like an overdose of perfume. But that could be done later. Right now, the smell only enhanced the mood for what was about to happen.

"Ever since my... dream was revealed to all of us," Twilight said as she began pacing in front of them, "I've been doing some... independent research. I know that there are certain spells that could be used to achieve that particular goal, so I've been studying them. _All_ of them." She let that sink in for a moment.

"If you ladies are amenable, we can try the... ah, most _fun_ option. Naturally, this will only be a practice run, so nopony will have to... 'take maternity leave', so to speak." She stopped her pacing and faced them, a determined look in her eyes, and a firm set to her jaw. "So, what say you?"

Spitfire thought about it for a moment while Trixie and Cheerilee were practically salivating at the thought of what her spell might do. "We trust you, Twilight," the pegasus answered.

Twilight smiled as she walked behind them. "I'm going to cast a spell now, but I want you to keep looking forward. No matter what you see, hear, or... _smell_, I want you to promise me that you won't look back until I say so, alright?"

"We promise, Mistress," all three responded.

Being called _that_ by _them_ caused the purple mare to shudder in anticipation. "If you do look back," she added, "I shall be forced to... _punish_ you." Closing her eyes, she concentrated on the magic at her disposal. She focused her mind on shaping the power into the form required, sweating a little at the effort. Twilight had cast plenty of spells before that required more energy, but few were as deviously complex as this one. One did not alter their physiology so drastically without serious thought to the possible consequences.

When she was satisfied that the magic had taken the proper form, she released the spell into her body. A soothing warmth overtook her starting from her horn, and washed over her like a cascade of warm honey. Hormones were released into her bloodstream causing her to feel tingly all over. The librarian looked at the mares in front of her, taking careful note of their sexes. She didn't have to be close to smell their arousal, the wetness on their folds told the story to anypony with eyes in their head. The way they shuffled on their hooves and lifted their tails, let her know that they were ready to be bred.

The tingling magic finally reached her own marehood causing her to gasp. Trixie almost looked back to see what had happened, but caught herself in time. "Mmmm..." Twilight purred. She ran a forehoof down her chest and across her belly towards her dripping marehood, but found her way impeded by the appearance of a long, svelte, slightly upwardly curved... penis. "Ooo!" she cried when her hard hoof made contact with the wholly unfamiliar organ. She stroked the length, feeling the veins pulse in time with her heartbeat.

The heat emanating from the large erection against her belly contrasted with the cooler air in the room, raising the hackles on her back. Twilight gently rubbed her hoof on the flat head of her new spear, gathering a dollop of pre-cum, bringing it to her mouth. She shivered in delight as she tasted herself, savoring the not quite male flavor.

Twilight opened her eyes just in time to see Cheerilee face forward again quickly. She stepped forward, climbing onto her back as if to mount her from behind. Her brand new cock slid between the mare's legs, parting her breasts as it did, causing her to shudder in pleasure. "You want _this_, don't you?" she whispered into the mare's ear, cocking her hips so that her penis smacked into her belly with a fleshy _**SLAP**_.

The earth pony could only find the self-control to nod. "You... _need_ it, don't you?" Twilight continued, reveling in her newfound power. Hunching her hips with a twist, her cock made sweeping motions across Cheerilee's belly, snagging on her breasts at each extreme, pulling a gasp from the mare. Again, another nod. "Sssay it." she said in a sibilant hiss.

"I-I n-need it-" Cheerilee's voice faltered when Twilight humped into her rump, her breasts meeting with the teacher's sex with a loud wet _**SMACK**_ that echoed in the room. The male organ however, had slid far up Cheerilee's abdomen, almost reaching her chest.

"What do you need, Cheery? Use your words," Twilight said.

"I-I-I n-need your..."

"Yes?"

"I need your cock in me!" the teacher shouted.

Twilight kissed her neck. "You need my cock in you, what?" she drawled, grinding her breasts into Cheerilee's marehood, taking special care to be sure that one of her nipples rubbed against the heated mare's clit.

"I need you cock in me, Mistress!" she gasped out.

With a lick at her neck, Twilight commented, "See? That wasn't so difficult, was it?"

A shake of Cheerilee's head answered her. "N-no Mistress."

Twilight climbed down from the mare's back. "However, you broke your promise, so you need to be punished." Cheerilee's eyes widened and she whimpered; but she didn't turn around. "Ergo, you shall be..." she smacked the quivering mare on the rump, eliciting a gasp from her, "last."

Plopping down on her rump, Twilight slid her hind legs out in front of her, and reclined back, letting her forehooves prop her up from behind. The cock stood proud, pulsing with the beat of her heart, and leaking lubricant from the flat tip. "You may turn around, now. All of you."

They did so, and gasped as one at the sight before them. Twilight smiled at their reactions, but was unsurprised by them. Included in her spell was a pheromone enhancer that combined with their already aroused state, had them quite literally drooling at the prospect of sex. She pointed at Cheerilee, then patted the ground next to her. As the earth pony sauntered over, she said, "You're to sit here and watch until your turn arrives, understand?" She received a nod in return. "You will not touch any of us, or yourself. Clear?" The tortured mare whimpered as she nodded again.

Twilight motioned the other two forward, and they eagerly knelt before her. She didn't even need to tell them what to do. They immediately pounced on her erection, licking and kissing it as if they were poisoned and it contained the only antidote. The librarian allowed her head to loll back and groaned in ecstasy. Their combined tongues, lips, and hooves were having a definite effect on the mare. Her cock which had been standing straight up before, was now harder than ever.

Unable to withstand it any longer, Twilight motioned them off of her and rose to her hooves. "Spitfire, lay down on your back," she directed. The pegasus wasted no time with a verbal acknowledgment, instead obeying with alacrity. When she lay on her back, panting as if she had run a marathon, Twilight nodded her approval and said, "Now Trixie, lay on top of her, belly to belly."

"With _pleasure_, Mistress!" the showpony eagerly complied.

Once she was in position, Twilight walked around the two now embracing ponies, taking in the sight before her, and letting them watch her as her cock bounced up and down with each step. When she came up behind them once again, she looked over to Cheerilee to make sure she was watching it all. There were two ever-widening puddles on the pallet; one under her head as she leaned forward, trying vainly to get a taste of anything, and another under her rump.

Chuckling to herself, the librarian took up position behind the cuddling mares. With skillful maneuvering of her hips, Twilight dragged her penis across their lips, picking up the moisture spilling over from their cunnies. Unable to take it anymore herself, she plunged into Spitfire, almost to the hilt in one fluid motion. All four mares gasped in unison, almost covering the loud _**SQUEALCH**_ sound resulting from the sudden action.

She took a moment to savor the unfamiliar sensation of actually being _inside_ her lover. The slickness of her walls, the warmth of her body, the simple knowledge that they were now connected in the most intimate of ways all demanded her attention. It was almost like her entire being was surrounded by the first mare with whom she had ever fallen in love. In a very real sense, it was an realization of that foalish infatuation's transformation into true love.

Twilight pulled out until half her turgid length was exposed, glistening with Spitfire's honey; then plunged back in with unseemly haste and vigor. Spitfire responded by flexing and relaxing her muscles, so that it felt like she was trying to milk Twilight's cock of any and all life-giving liquids. After her third thrust, she pulled out completely and dived into Trixie, eliciting a hiss of pleasure from the azure mare below her.

Twilight took a moment to appreciate the differences between the two. Trixie was somehow softer, yet tighter than the athlete. She was plumbing the depths of of a silky smooth, yet inexplicably tight, pliable tunnel; one that molded itself to her shape, but constrained it in ways she couldn't explain.

A few more thrusts, and she went back to Spitfire. Back and forth, in and out, aggressive and soft, she alternated between them. When she was in the pegasus, her lover would cry out with an "Ah!" when every thrust bottomed out against her cervix. When she was in the unicorn, her lover would squeak like a mouse "Eee!" All of them were covered in a fine sheen of perspiration, causing Trixie to slide against Spitfire, their breasts rubbing against each other. Their nipples were so stiff, they poked into one another like cleats.

Unable to hold back anymore, Twilight left Trixie's gaping sex, and thrust her shaft between both mares. She could feel both their clits as well as their nipples dig into her flesh, and drag along her length as she thrust in and out between them. All three of them reached for the clouds together, cries of ecstasy rebounding off the walls of Twilight's spell. Twilight's warm, semen smeared between them after each pulsing buck, their sweat and musk mingling with it and the juices that had been lubricating Twilight's member.

With the last, Earth-shattering push, Twilight fell backwards and lay spent, her new organ suddenly pliant and drooling a line of semen on the pallet. Trixie rolled off of Spitfire, both in a cloud of endorphins, wearing silly grins.

The lavender unicorn looked over to Cheerilee to be greeted with the sight of an absolutely wrecked mare. A fine layer of sweat coated her, and her eyes were dilated so wide, it was a wonder she hadn't gone blind yet. Her hooves kept twitching like she was going to bring them to her marehood, but all four were kept planted firmly on the floor.

Taking pity on the poor mare, she gestured towards the other mares. "You may clean them up, Cheery." No further prompting was needed. The schoolmarm dashed over to them, eagerly licking them clean of all their leavings. Trixie and Spitfire were still very sensitive, but too exhausted to do more than moan in protest.

Twilight watched her work, but soon found her attention focused on the mare's deliciously round rear end, which was waving enticingly in front of her. With surprising resilience, the librarian found herself hard as steel once more, and an eager and waiting female in front of her.

Careful to not make a sound, Twilight stood on her hind legs alone, and with one hoof on her shaft to aim, she lunged forward, impaling the surprised, but very willing mare on her cock to the hilt, all in a single motion. Taking a moment again to familiarize herself with her lover's inner workings, she marveled at how she was different from the other two. With Cheerilee, it was all sensual decadence. Where she lacked the tightness of the others, there was a certain... plushness to her that invited you to stay forever. Indeed, grasping the mare's hips to properly bear down, Twilight noticed that she slid around so easily, she was able to gyrate her hips, allowing her to prod areas that would be difficult with the others.

Twilight dropped so that her body rested on top of the strong earth pony, and made shallow, but vigorous thrusts into her, letting the natural instincts that came with her magical appendage take over. The instincts were so strong, that she bit the teacher's neck, coming close to drawing blood.

It didn't take long for either mare to climax, sending each other over the edge. Unable to support them any longer, Cheerilee collapsed to the pallet in between Trixie and Spitfire, her lover still atop her, and penis still lodged within. As all four mares drifted off, and the magic creating the organ dissipated, Twilight had just enough sense and energy to cover them with a blanket.

"I love you all..." she murmured.

(\ /)

( . .)

*(")(")

_Today had been a good day. It had found an ally in it's struggle against the confounding interloper, Twilight Sparkle. True, a Diamond Dog wasn't much of an ally, but one had to start_ somewhere_, right? This particular Diamond Dog had two things going for it, however. He nursed a deep and abiding hatred of all ponies._

_Ever since the appearance of the Whining One, he had seen a steady decline of his power over the pack. They had apparently lost a good portion of their hoarded gems to her, with a corresponding loss of his prestige. It wasn't long before his own pack drove him off, leaving his own little brother to take over. Now, he wandered the mountains alone, hungry and gemless._

_This is how it found him. Half-starved, lonely, and shivering in the frigid mountain air and swearing revenge on all ponykind. It had no trouble at all convincing the stupid Diamond Dog to agree to a mutually beneficial arrangement. Well, it would ultimately prove more beneficial for it than the Dog, but he didn't need to know that... yet._

_Which leads into the second reason it had been so glad to stumble upon the Dog. Should their interests ever diverge, it would be a very simple matter to... bring him back into line. After all, it had been able to do the same thing with_ much _more powerful creatures than him before._

_Yes. A plan was forming. It- they would soon have their vengeance._


	3. Chapter 3

**I WOULD DO ANYTHING FOR LOVE**

* * *

Chapter 3: Missed the Starting Gun

* * *

"So the trail hooks around the pond here, and goes past this mountain. Make sure to stay away from the mountain. After the... incident with Rainbow and Applejack, there's been a shelf of unstable rock overhanging the forest below it." Twilight rolled up the map in her magical grasp, placing it in her racing saddlebag.

Spitfire trotted up even with her, eager to get to the starting point for the race. "So why hasn't anypony done something about it, if it's so dangerous?"

Twilight rolled her eyes in exasperation. "Just the mayor being stubborn. I offered to do it myself, but she said I wasn't a 'licensed demolition expert, government sanctioned road worker, or even a certified geologist', and not to touch it or else."

"Or else, what?" the pegasus asked. "What can _she_ do to you?"

Looking at her companion out of the corner of her eye, she arched and eyebrow and asked, "You mean besides jailing me for unlicensed demolition, destruction of park lands, public endangerment, reckless spell use, and impersonating a government official?"

"Oh."

"No, what stayed my hoof was her threatening to tell the Princess on me," she finished with a shake of her head.

Spitfire was so thunderstruck, she almost tripped over her own hooves. "What?" she asked incredulously.

" 'I'll take it under advisement, Twilight,' she said." Twilight paused to wave a hoof at the ledge in question. "Advisement, hah! Here we are, years later, and look at it!" She shook her head and resumed walking. "I swear if it didn't keep everything neat and orderly, I'd help the Princess get rid of the bureaucracy that's choking the life out of Equestria," she said, clenching a hoof dramatically.

"She at least changed the route a little, right?" Spitfire asked. "I mean, as a public official she may have her hooves tied by bureaucracy, but she can hardly ignore a danger to the public."

Twilight blew a raspberry at the notion. "Of course not! That would break with tradition, and if there's one thing this town is big on, it's tradition." She sighed in exasperation. "No, the only concession I was able to get out of her was putting up a sign in the danger area, urging ponies to slow down there." Twilight kicked a rock in the path out of frustration. "Fat lot of good it will do, though. The whole point of a race is to get there before everypony else. Who's going to slow down, I ask you?"

In an effort to shift the conversation, Spitfire gestured backwards with her head and asked, "So how long are you going to let them do that?"

Twilight turned her head to note Trixie and Cheerilee, literally hanging off of her rump. They had grabbed onto her with their forehooves, and were alternating licks and kisses with nibbles and outright bites to anything within reach. The librarian's cutie mark was almost completely covered with hickeys, making it indistinguishable from the rest of her coat. They had latched on like a pair of remoras as soon as the town was out of sight and hadn't let go since. Twilight had only let them continue because there was nopony around for her to get embarrassed over.

Bucking her rear end straight up, she tried to shake them loose. "Alright you two, free ride's over."

The two of them fell to the ground, Trixie lading on her rump, and Cheerilee ending up with her face in the dirt, but a grin on her face nonetheless. "Mistress!" Trixie exclaimed, "does that mean we have to _pay_ to... continue?"

"Ooo... you naughty filly!" Cheerilee husked as she stood and brushed herself off.

With her face turning a bright red, Twilight stomped her hoof, sending up a small cloud of dust. "No, it doesn't- I don't even- I... Augh!" A field of purple energy surrounded her two assailants as Twilight levitated them off the ground. All four of them moved off the trail and into the woods with the floating mares leading the way. "That is _it_!" the lavender unicorn growled. "We are getting to the bottom of why you two are acting like this, and we aren't going anywhere until I find out!"

The showpony and the teacher looked at each other with lusty grins. "Ooo... Mistress is mad!" They said in unison.

"Does this mean Mistress will spank us?" Trixie asked hopefully.

"Or humiliate us?" Cheerilee added.

"Or-"

"The next words out of your mouth Trixie, had better be an explanation for your behavior," Twilight interrupted.

Trixie made a moue of sadness. "Does Mistress not want naughty pets to punish?"

Setting them down in a small clearing behind some tall bushes, Twilight shook her head. "I already have a pet, Trixie. I just want my marefriends to be themselves, not the sex-crazed nymphomaniacs they've turned into ever since we first... you know... did it." Some of Twilight's anger turned into embarrassment as she said this, turning red again.

"And how does Mistress know this isn't the 'real us'?" Cheerilee asked in a sultry voice.

The librarian rolled her eyes. "Are you forgetting that I've known you both for quite a while now, and nothing in your past behavior indicates that this _is_ normal?"

This seemed to give them both pause, and they looked at her blankly. Spitfire took this opportunity to say, "Perhaps they're under some sort of influence? Do you know a spell to check for that?"

"I suppose I could start with a basic first aid diagnostic spell to see if there's anything physically influencing them," The lavender mare replied.

Twilight's horn began to glow, and almost immediately, her eyes widened and her pupils shrank to mere pinpricks. "Augh!" she shrieked and fell to the ground, covering her face with her hooves.

"Twilight!" the three mares cried out, as they rushed to her side.

With one foreleg still covering her face, she waved them off with the other. "I'm okay, I'm okay," she said reassuringly. "Um, Trixie?"

"Yes, Twilight?"

"When was the last time you had cast a spell?" she asked from her unchanged position on the ground.

The azure mare pondered this for a moment. "I believe it was last Sunday, why?"

"And was this a spell you cast on yourself?" the librarian continued with her interrogation.

Trixie nodded before realizing that covered as she was, Twilight couldn't see it. "Yes. Well, myself and Cheerilee, that is."

Twilight pondered this for a moment, then asked, "What spell was it, Trixie?"

Nervously, the showmare asked, "What does this have to do with-"

"Please, Trixie," Twilight interrupted, "it's important! What. Spell. Was. It?"

Trixie's hooves fidgeted nervously as she said in a quiet voice, "A cloudwalking spell."

Twilight's head almost lifted from it's position. "Cloudwalking?" she asked, perplexed. "It shouldn't have..." Her voice trailed off as sudden realization set in. "This cloudwalking spell, Trixie; did you use the original spell as made by Flashbang, or did you use the notations I had made in my copy of _Cloudbuilding: The Art and the Science_?"

The azure mare's response was so meek, it was almost Fluttershy-like. "Um, yours," she squeaked.

"I thought so," Twilight said with a sigh. "Trixie, those were incomplete notes. They didn't even have the full calculations, let alone the mental diagrams needed to properly formulate the spell." She hummed in thought. "Frankly, I'm surprised it's taken this long for a problem to arise, but what's _really_ surprising is the form in which that atavism appeared."

A purple magical sigil in the vague shape of an eye appeared, floating in the air in front of Twilight's head, just below her horn. She rose to a sitting position, her eyes still closed. "Well, there's only one thing we can do," she said as her horn began glowing.

The other unicorn and earth pony backed up, fear evident in their expressions. "W-w-what are you going to do, crucial babe?" Cheerilee asked.

Twilight stood to all four hooves calmly, but with intense resolve. "I'm just going to remove the blockage in your frontal lobes that's inhibiting the flow of mana in your bodies. I believe this is why you two have been acting so strangely lately. I'm not going to lie. This will either be very painful, or very pleasurable. I'll try to make it the latter, but I can't make any promises in that regard." Twilight's body glowed with a purple aura as she lifted into the air with her two patients. A whirlwind swept the area around the four of them, leaving Spitfire trying to shield her eyes from the swirling dust and debris.

Trixie and Cheerilee's eyes glowed white as Twilight's magic wrapped around them like a lover, slowly working it's way into them. The librarian's magical sensor swiveled as it focused on each of them, directing the magic. She eased into their brains, being very careful to avoid going near their primary thaumaturgic glands. Sweat began to form on her brow as she turned to the herculean task of unraveling the knot of built-up magic. Her breath came in short gasps, and her brow furrowed in concentration.

Her attention almost slipped when Trixie let out the first scream of pain, followed closely by Cheerilee. She had trouble keeping them still as they writhed in her magical grasp, trying to free themselves from the terrible pain coursing through their bodies. _There's too much magic built up! They couldn't handle it if I just released it into their systems. It's risky, but there's no other option. I guess I'll just have to take it into me long enough to redirect it._

Twilight altered her spell mid-cast, taking the excess energy into herself. It was painful. Oh, so painful. Her own shriek added to the cacophony created by her lovers, and then drowned them out completely. It was only the thought of possibly losing them that allowed her to keep her attention focused through the agony of the liquid fire coursing through her veins. _I will NOT FAIL THEM!_

Spitfire was so startled by the sudden appearance of Princess Celestia, that she lost her hoofing, and the wind launched her into the side of the larger mare.

**"CAPTAIN, REPORT!"** Celestia had to resort to the Royal Canterlot Voice just to be heard over the rushing wind.

The Wonderbolt tried several times to say something, but kept having to spit out debris that would fly into her mouth. Celestia noted this, and her horn glowed in a golden aura. _"Just think it at me, Captain. It'll be faster."_ Spitfire did so, accidentally leaving out no details to her diarch. _"I see."_

_"Is there anything you can do to help, your highness?"_ Spitfire pleaded.

Celestia shook her head. _"I'm afraid this is Twilight's show, right now. If I were to interfere, there's a good chance I'd do more damage than good."_

Trixie and Cheerilee had passed out, and were gently lowered to the ground, yet the wind still swirled about Twilight like a maddened dust devil. The eye sigil swiveled around before stopping on the nearby mountain with the unstable shelf. Almost mechanically, the mare's foreleg lifted, and pointed at the same spot.

Celestia noticed this and hastily erected a rainbow-hued barrier around herself and the three helpless mares.

Before the barrier could even fully form, a single mote of white light, no bigger than a housefly formed in front of Twilight's hoof, with several smaller motes swirling towards it slowly. Even though the hurricane-like winds should have been as loud as a freight train barreling down the tracks at full speed, all sound ceased to be. A perfectly round hole appeared in the cloud of debris as the mote of light lanced out towards the mountain, stretching out to a length of over a mile, bringing back the sound with what felt like like a giant guitar string being plucked and allowed to reverberate.

**_DOOOOOOMMM_**

A new gust of wind bent every tree nearby as well as those in the path of the beam of light first towards and then away from the mountain, which now had a circular hole burned straight through it, centered where the troublesome shelf once existed.

Excess energy now expended, Twilight slowly lowered to the ground until she rested on all four hooves. She turned to the barrier as it dropped, and a smile found it's way to her face. "Princess!" she shouted hoarsely and threw herself into her mentor's forelegs where she was eagerly welcomed.

"Twilight, my faithful student," Celestia said. "When I felt you in such terrible distress, I teleported right over. Are you feeling well?"

Blushing at her concern, Twilight nuzzled up to the alabaster alicorn, delighting in the comfort the action brought. "Everything's fine now, Princess."

"Then why aren't you opening your eyes, hon?" Spitfire asked.

Twilight waved a hoof at her as if it were nothing to be concerned over as the sigil swiveled to meet her gaze. "Oh, that's just because I'm blind."

(\ /)

( . .)

*(")(")

"But it's _my_ fault, you're blind!" Trixie shouted. "I _should_ be punished!" The distraught showpony turned her attention to Princess Celestia, who calmly sat sipping tea from a delicate cup. Stomping a hoof which caused a stack of books near the shelf Spike was working to refill, she sternly said, "Princess, I must insist that you arrest me for causing this! Lock me away in a dungeon! Anything to keep me from harming... If... if it weren't for me..." she trailed off as the tears came unbidden.

Twilight came up and put a foreleg around her withers, pulling her into a hug. "Trixie, sweetie, there's no way you could have known what could have happened. If anything, I'm as much to blame in this as you are. I should have finalized those notes years ago."

Hugging her from the other side, Cheerilee added, "If I hadn't been so insistent and bothered you in the carriage, you might have picked up on y- the mistake."

"And if I hadn't asked you two to tail us on our date," Spitfire chimed in as she hugged all three of them, "then you wouldn't have needed to try to learn that spell unassisted."

Spike paused in his work to look to the Princess, who sipped her tea, politely ignoring the mares in an attempt to give them a little privacy. He finally caught her eye, and just gave him a calming smile, so he returned to reshelving the books knocked down from Twilight's tremendous blast.

Trixie broke free of them, and wiped her tears away. "Thank you, but I really don't think I belong here with you, Twilight. Not if I'm going to cause this kind of harm to you."

Twilight grabbed her by the shoulders, making her face her. The blindfold hid the unicorn's lavender orbs, but the purple magical sensor floating in front of it let the mare see directly in her mind. "Trixie, look at me." The azure mare could not bear to meet her gaze and looked away, but reluctantly did so when Twilight shook her and forcefully said, "Look at me!"

"This isn't the first time this has happened to me," Twilight said.

"What?" Trixie asked in shock.

Now it was Twilight's turn to look away, this time in embarrassment. "Um, Princess? Would you mind telling this? I kind of... you know."

Nodding, Celestia set down her cup with a light **_TINK_**. "Of course, Twilight." She turned to the other mares. "When Twilight had first learned about astral forms as a filly, she became very curious about my own form. Now, as you may or may not know, astral forms show us as we truly are. The astral realm is one of those places that lays bare everything about us, including our power."

Celestia smiled gently at the memory of her faithful student, and how earnest she could be when studying. "Because I had never expressly forbid it, Twilight studied for weeks on her own, learning to cast the spell allowing her to see into the astral realm. When she had finally mastered it," the alicorn shook her head wistfully, "she used it while I was distracted... raising the sun."

She gave that a moment to sink in. "Naturally when I raise the sun, my magic is at its peak, so what the poor filly," Twilight blushed, being called this in front of her marefriends, "saw magically blinded her. It was temporary, of course, but it took a few days for her eyesight to return. That was when I taught her this spell she's using now."

Trixie looked at the diarch, hope shining in her eyes. "So... this _isn't_ the first time this has happened?"

"No." Celestia replied. She put a hoof to her chin in thought. "This is what, the third time? Fourth?" she asked her student.

"Fifth, actually." Twilight sheepishly answered.

"And you're sure, her eyes will recover?" the azure mare asked.

Celestia nodded. "Very. I checked her eyes myself before you two woke up. Give her a couple of days at least, and I'm sure she'll be right as rain."

Turning to her lover, Trixie said, "I'm sorry all this happened, and for my part in it, Twilight."

Twilight gave her a chaste kiss on the cheek, causing the azure mare to blush. "I'm just glad everything turned out alright, love."

Spitfire and Cheerilee stood before her. "We're sorry about everything too, hon," the Wonderbolt said.

"It sort of started as a way to make sure that one of us didn't get the upper hoof over the others in our attempts to win your heart," Cheerilee added. "When we saw the paparazzi trying to take pictures of you, we sort of agreed to make sure that all of our dates went on uninterrupted. We didn't want your life to be complicated by them. I guess you could say that we did it to protect you."

Pulling all three of them into a crushing hug, Twilight said, "Thank you all. You don't know how much that means to me." With a sniffle, she released them and looked to Celestia. "So, what happened with the race, Princess? Who won?"

Celestia gave her a wry smile. "Actually, I had them delay the race until a certain pony clears a dangerous obstacle from the course that she had created."

"Huh?" Twilight asked intelligently. "What do you mea- ooohhh..." she said, finally catching on. "Was it really that bad?"

The Princess shrugged. "I'm no geologist nor an engineer, but even I can tell that peak won't last much longer as it stands now. Although the rock itself was seared into a solid tube, it is still shale, and I've been informed by the Royal Geologist that it won't be long before the formation collapses, possibly injuring somepony." She coughed into a hoof to clear her throat and said, "Therefore I am appointing you, Twilight Sparkle, under the supervision of the Royal Geologist to demolish said structure to his satisfaction."

Leaning down, she winked at the unicorn. "It's too late to do it today, but until it's done, the Running of the Leaves will have to be delayed. Once he gives the all clear, the race can be resumed."

Twilight bowed low, shame evident on her face. "I'm so sorry, Princess. I was looking for a safe direction in which I could disperse the energy, but when my eye- er, sensor landed on that darn shelf I figured I could harvest two apples with a single buck, so..."

"I'm sorry, but to which shelf are you referring?" Celestia asked.

Surprise quickly morphed into outrage in the little librarian. "You mean the mayor hasn't even requested a survey team yet? She said she would take care of it! Why that-"

The alicorn placed a calming hoof on the mare's shoulder. "Twilight, not every bit of government business comes to my desk. The mayor of a small town like this requesting a survey team wouldn't even make it to my chancellor's desk."

The righteous indignation deflated at this line of reasoning from the Faithful Student's ultimate source of reason. "Oh. Right." She shuffled a foreleg in embarrassment. "Um, does this mean you'll be spending the night since the race was delayed?" she asked hopefully.

Celestia chuckled as she ruffled Twilight's mane affectionately. "If you think you have the room, I can stay through the rest of the weekend if you like."

With wild abandon, Twilight jumped into the air with a hoof-pump. "Yes!" She landed again and asked, "What about Princess Luna? We could accommodate her too, if she doesn't mind a communal sleeping arrangement."

"Neigh. I'm afraid Luna has already made other arrangements," the alicorn answered with a knowing smile.

Sudden realization struck Twilight and she gasped. "Oh, my stars, I forgot to clean up our room! Excuse me Princess, while I tend to that now." She looked to her marefriends and asked, "Would you mind attending the Princess while I make everything... presentable?"

A deep blush overtook the four mares as they remembered the near week of debauchery that had been going on in the room upstairs; the room in which the Princess would be sleeping for the next few days. "Of course, Twilight." Cheerilee replied. "We'd be delighted."

"Thanks, girls!" she said as she dashed to the stairs. She stopped to turn around a sketch a quick bow to the Princess, before resuming her race up to the waiting mess.

An uncomfortable silence fell over the room, only interrupted by the sound of Spike continuing his never-ending work. After letting the three mares stew for a bit, Celestia asked, "So, when are you due, Cheerilee?"

"Due for what, Your Highness?" she asked.

"For your baby, of course," the Princess replied with what could only be called horesapple-eating grin.

(\ /)

( . .)

*(")(")

Twilight closed the door and leaned against it, breathing a sigh of relief. Her magical sensor surveyed the room as she sniffed the stale, sex-filled air, making her cringe. Already, she could feel the wetness forming on her marehood, and she licked her lips.

She cried out in frustration and banged her head with her hooves. "Augh! I can't afford to get distracted right now! There's no way I can let the Princess sleep in..." She shuddered at the thought.

Her horn glowed as she telekinetically threw open the windows, actually cracking one in her haste. A magically summoned wind blew through the room, but with the pallet on the floor refreshing the musk, there was little point in that. Twilight growled in irritation and neatly folded the bedding into a pile on her balcony so that she could wash it out later.

Walking back in, she was greeted by the shocking sight of a stain on the wooden floor, that could have only come from one source. Well, to be accurate, it would actually be _four_ sources, but only one cause. Sniffing the area, Twilight found that it didn't actually smell _too_ strongly, and wouldn't even be noticeable covered up by the fresh pallet, so put it on a to-do list she summoned from nowhere with a **_POOF_**.

After sending the list back to its place on her desk, she went back out onto the balcony, searching the ground. Spotting what she wanted, she teleported down to a flower stand and greeted the pony tending to it. "Afternoon, Roseluck. Could I trouble you for a couple of bouquets?"

The cream colored mare shrieked and whirled around, holding her hoof to her chest. "Aaahhh! Oh, it's you, Twilight. You startled me." Her brow furrowed as she caught a good look at the mare. "What happened to your eyes?"

"Nothing. Sorry about the scare," Twilight replied. "So, um, have any good roses? The Princess is staying at my place, and I want it to smell and look its best for her."

Smiling, the mare flipped her dark red mane over her shoulder and asked, "Your usual Princess bouquet, then?"

Twilight twisted her face in thought for a moment before saying, "One of those, and a regular bunch of red ones, food quality. Oh, and I'm almost out of daisies, could I have a bunch of those too?"

"Sure thing, Twilight." As she turned around to fill the order, Roseluck casually asked, "So, how are things going with your marefriend?"

Distracted, Twilight looked back to her library worried about what might be going on back there. "Huh? Which one?" she asked.

The earth pony almost ripped the paper in which she was wrapping the order completely. "What?"

"What?"

"Um, nothing. Here you go, Twilight. Ten bits, please." Hoofing over the large bundle of flowers, Roseluck nervously looked around.

"Thanks," Twilight said as she hoofed over a small bag containing twelve bits and took the bundle. "Keep the change." And with that, she teleported away again.

"Told you she was with all of them," came a voice from the other side of the cart.

Roseluck nodded reluctantly. "Sorry I ever doubted you," she replied sarcastically. "Here." She hoofed over a small sack of bits to Berry Punch who emerged from behind the cart with a grin.

"Pleasure doing business with you," she said. Taking note of the earth pony's sour expression, Berry asked, "Aren't you glad I put that fifty bit limit on the pool, now?" She leaned her back against the cart casually playing with the bag. "Three hundred fifty bits if Cheerilee had won alone would have been nice, I know, but at least you only _lost_ fifty, right?"

Roseluck grumbled something unintelligible, sparking a feeling of generosity within the barkeep. "Tell you what; next time you come in to my place, your first drink is on me, okay?"

Smiling and shaking her head, the cream colored mare replied, "You're a bad influence, you know that?"

Berry grinned back at her. "Just make sure you bring Lily Valley and Daisy and the bits they owe when you do come."

(\ /)

( . .)

*(")(")

Twilight finished arranging the flowers in a vase and turned to examine the room one more time. _Fresh bedding, check. Fragrant flowers, check. Room aired out and dusted, check. Chocolate mints on pillows..._ Looking to the pillows, she noted a distinct lack of complimentary mints on them. _Horesapples! Where's the mints?_

Digging out her last shopping list, she noted that only one item on it hadn't been crossed off. _That's right! Bonbon was out of chocolate mints last week._ Deciding that she had already left her guest for far too long, she improvised with a chocolate covered rose petal on each pillow instead. _Guess it'll have to do._

The librarian levitated the bedding in from the balcony and floated it as well as the rest of the flowers behind her as she made her way back downstairs. As she passed the open archway leading to the library's lobby, she called out, "Spike, come help me with the wash."

Silence greeted her summons, causing her to back up and actually look into the room. The tableau that greeted her was distressing, indeed. While the Princess poured herself another cup of tea, everypony else in the room, Spike included, stared at her with expressions of shock, their mouths agape.

A feeling of dread overcame her, causing her to back away slowly and return to what she was doing. _Just walk away, Twilight. Just... walk away._

(\ /)

( . .)

*(")(")

"Pony will _pay_. All the ponies will _PAY_." Repeating this mantra to himself as he walked, Rover only gave the scantest attention to what he was doing. He was far too intent on his promised revenge to really watch the path before him; not that he could make it out very well in the dark of the night. It hardly mattered though, since he knew his way around the mountain paths almost as well as he did the tunnels where he ruled... _had_ ruled, that is.

Reminded of what he had lost once again, he stopped long enough to rip a helpless bush out of the ground, and throw it off the path. Unfortunately for him, it wasn't as helpless as he had first thought, and spent the next few minutes cursing as he pulled thorns from his paws as he resumed walking.

Before he realized it, mountains had given way to forest, and Rover looked around nervously. He tried to take comfort by flicking at the gem that hung from his collar, only to remember that it had been taken from him by Fido, the big bruiser and enforcer of the trio that had led the pack. This focused his resolve, and he strode into the forest with a swagger as if daring anything to get in his way.

Rover followed the split in the path It had told him about, and it wasn't long before he smelled something vaguely familiar, making an evil grin spread across his muzzle. _Just like It said, they are here, waiting for a real alpha to lead them._ He let loose a low chuckle as he stepped into a clearing, allowing himself to be bathed in moonlight.

Looking around, it seemed as if the forest itself was alive and moving to surround him, yet, the Diamond Dog felt no fear. Rover demanded the alpha to come forward with a howl of challenge, and waited for him to appear.

The wait wasn't long, as a part of the forest came forward into the light of the moon. He was a massive specimen, towering over the smaller dog. Sap dripped from his paw-long teeth, each sharp enough to slice through the toughest of hides. Rippling muscles creaked as they strained against his incredible weight. This was truly a prime example of Timber Wolves that greeted Rover.

The timber wolf snarled ad him, but Rover smacked him across the snout with enough force to turn his head, and leave him seeing stars. Surprised that such a tiny creature could hold so much power, it sniffed at him, trying to figure him out. It only took a few seconds for him to recognize the smell of an apex predator, one more powerful than he. With a submissive whimper, the timber wolf rolled onto his back, presenting his belly and throat; the force of such a felling nearly knocking Rover from his feet.

Rover jumped onto the wolf's neck and grabbed his throat, applying pressure to the windpipe; not a lot, just enough to drive home the point that even through his toughened wooden hide, the Diamond Dog could easily reach his vitals. With that, he was welcomed to a new pack, _his_ new pack with a howl from every timber wolf in the area.

Things were beginning to look up for the formerly homeless dog. After all, when you've hit bottom, where else is there to go, but up?


	4. Chapter 4

**I WOULD DO ANYTHING FOR LOVE**

* * *

Chapter 4: Herd Mentality

* * *

Cheerilee plopped down onto her rump and stared at her belly as if she could see the foal growing right then.

"But Twilight said that it was just a test run of the spell!" Spitfire viciously whispered at the Diarch. "She said that she had cast it in a way so that this couldn't happen!"

Celestia beamed at the distraught mare. "I'm sure she did, but did she properly compensate for her, ah, level of _power_?" She took another sip, then said, "Twilight is a very thoughtful pony, and is very meticulous, especially when it comes to magic; but I have had to remind her several times to ah, _carry the one_, as it were, especially since she became the bearer of the Element of Magic."

Twilight, having just finished hanging out the bedding to dry, walked in at that moment rather nervously. "Is... is everything okay in here?" she asked, ducking as she did.

Five sets of eyes turned to her as she crouched low, trying to look as inoffensive as possible, but only one of them did so with evident amusement.

"Twilight!" Trixie shrieked as she and Spitfire ran up to her, making her crouch down low enough to crawl under the sofa. The Princess says that Cheerilee is... is..."

The magical sensor swiveled to take in the teacher, who sat dumbly in her spot, unmoving except for a hoof that would repeatedly touch her belly only to draw back as if burned. Worry tinged her voice as she asked, "Is she alright? What's wrong with her?"

Spitfire leaned in close, whispering, "The Princess says she's... pregnant." Her gravelly voice said the last word so quietly, it was hard to make out.

Once she _was_ able to distinguish her words, put them together, and think about them, Twilight sat, stunned at the news. A slightly nervous chuckle came from her mouth, surprising her marefriends, but causing Celestia and Spike to exchange worried glances, and her off-putting grin wasn't helping matters either. "Aha hah hah, Oh, Princess, you kidder, you!" She pumped her hoof as if laughing along with a joke. "It's not like we were doing anything that might result in... _that_, right girls?" She turned to face each of them, gesturing for them to go along with her story.

Unfortunately for her, Cheerilee was still attempting to touch her belly, and Spitfire and Trixie were looking anywhere but at her or the Princess and coughing nervously. "Girls, **_TELL_** her," she said, her voice having lost all it's false mirth and cheerfulness. When they continued to studiously ignore her, she looked to her mentor and gave a nervous chuckle.

Celestia took mercy on her and walked over, putting a gentle hoof on her shoulder. "Twilight." The smaller mare looked up to her, fear evident in her posture. "Captain Spitfire already told me."

"She did?" The tiny squeak coming from the powerful mare made her sound absolutely pitiful.

Nodding, Celestia rubbed her hoof on Twilight's back, trying to comfort her and let her know that everything was still okay. "We couldn't speak, let alone hear each other over the wind you were creating, so I had cast a telepathy spell so she could tell me what was going on." A slight pink tinge colored the alicorn's cheeks. "She accidentally showed me too much in her haste."

"So... you _don't_ think I'm a terrible mare for not waiting?" Twilight asked quietly.

The alabaster mare shook her head and smiled down at her protege. "Of _course_ not, my Faithful Student. What consenting adults do in the privacy of their own home is nopony's business but their own." She nuzzled the unicorn, who eagerly returned the affection. "And I don't think any less of you for your actions. Love freely given is the most precious gift a pony can offer."

_"I love you, Princess."_

_"I love you too, my Faithful Student."_

Twilight was more than a little surprised to find their old bond still alive, allowing them to speak to each other's hearts when they were close. What had started as a way to comfort a filly spending so much time away from her loved ones, became one of the strongest bonds of her young life. She let herself wallow in the Princess's love for a moment longer before tearing herself away, when a thought crossed her mind. "But Princess, I made sure that the spell _couldn't_ do that. Are you sure that she's..." She trailed off as she looked to her lover, who was now rubbing circles on her flat tummy with a hoof, a worried smile on her face.

"Well, I haven't checked myself. I was just telling your marefriends here about all the times I've had to tell you to figure in your rapidly growing power into your calculations," the Diarch replied.

"But I did do that! I swear, it's almost become a morning ritual for me. While I brush my teeth, I cast a standardized spell to see how much growth I've had, and use that as a baseline in all my calculations." The librarian stood and began pacing back and forth in front of her. "There's no way I could have powered past the limitations I placed on the spell."

"And how would their... ah, _condition_ have affected the outcome?" Celestia asked. Twilight stopped pacing and stared at nothing. "Judging from Captain Spitfire's memories, they appeared to have been locked into some form of extreme estrus by Trixie's spell. If your calculations were off by even a single erg, when combined with Miss Cheerilee's condition-"

She got no further because Twilight had teleported away with a great flash. "Wh- where did she go?" Trixie asked in a plaintive voice.

"Have faith in her, my little pony. Twilight would not abandon-" The Princess got no further this time as Twilight had reappeared in a flash, a store shelf stocked full of small boxes held in her telekinetic grip, spilling them everywhere. She ran to the bathroom, and everypony heard the door slam shut. Seconds later, the door was slammed open again, and she ran back out, grabbed Cheerilee in her telekinetic grasp, and ran back into the bathroom again with a third slamming of the door.

Everypony in the room stared at the door in wide-eyed shock. Spike picked up one of the boxes that had fallen off of the shelf when Twilight had teleported back. He scratched his head as he read the label. "Home Pregnancy Test?" He shrugged his shoulders. "Ah, well. If it's a test, I'm sure Twilight will pass it with flying colors."

( \ /)

( . .)

*(")(")

Cheerilee watched Twilight pace in the small bathroom from her perch on the toilet. Used test strips overflowed the trashcan to her left, and empty boxes lay scattered throughout the floor. "Twilight, sweetie, this is nothing to be this upset over. Things like this happen."

"But I checked, Cheerilee, I _checked_! My figures were correct down to the _microjewel_!" Twilight groaned. She stopped her pacing long enough to bang her head against the wall again a few times.

The earth pony looked on in worry. "Keep that up Twilight, and our foal will grow up without a father."

Twilight threw herself at the maroon mare, going down on her knees before her, making for a very awkward position and dampening her coat with tears. "I'm so sorry, Cheerilee. I promise I'll do whatever you want, just please don't hate me for this."

Hugging the mare closer to her, Cheerilee ran a hoof through the navy mane, trying to soothe her nerves. "Shhh..." she cooed, "it'll be alright, Twilight. I'm not mad at you at all."

The librarian looked up at her, wet tracks coming down her cheeks from under her blindfold. "Y-you're not?" she sobbed.

Shaking her head, Cheerilee said, "Not in the slightest. Granted, I would have liked for our relationship to have... matured a little before reaching this stage, but I'm glad you're the father of my first foal." Taking the mare's face in her hooves, she lifted her until she stood nose-to-nose with her. "You're the first pony with whom I ever even considered having foals, so how could I ever be mad at you for giving me what I've been dreaming of for the past few years?"

"Oh, Cheery!" Twilight gasped out, and kissed her full on the mouth with almost desperate passion.

A gentle knock on the door brought them back to reality. "Are you two okay in there? It's been a while now," came Spitfire's surprisingly soft voice.

Twilight wiped her nose on her foreleg, and looked to Cheerilee, who nodded. She walked over to the door and opened it quietly. "We're fine," she said with a sniffle. She walked into the lobby followed by Cheerilee and Spitfire, and noticed that there was a new pony there, drinking tea with the Princess. "Oh, Hello Berry Punch. I didn't know you were here."

"Evening, Twilight. I just came to see my sister about something," the barkeep replied.

_That's right, they're sisters_... Twilight considered this a moment, before deciding it was only fair. "Actually, I'm glad you're here, Berry Punch. We... um, have an announcement to make."

Berry smiled and winked at her. "If it's about the four of you being in a relationship together, I already knew."

"Actually," interrupted Cheerilee, "she was about to say that I'm pregnant."

You could hear a pin drop had Celestia not set her cup down with a _**CLINK**_. "Congratulations, all of you." She beamed a smile at Twilight, who turned red and suddenly found drawing invisible circles on the floor with a hoof to be the most interesting thing in the world. "I'm sure she will be healthy, and beautiful; not to mention brilliant with you two as her parents."

Trixie looked at the Princess in confusion. "She? How can you be so sure that the foal will be female?"

Celestia smiled down at her slyly. "Well, there _are_ limitations to magic. Only stallions could create a male offspring. Even _I_ am bound by that limitation, and as there _are_ no males in your relationship..."

"You okay, sis?" Cheerilee asked as she approached the frozen mare. She poked her sibling with a hoof, who just fell over onto the floor with a dull thud.

Berry blinked, and her eyes focused on the earth pony standing above her. "Cheers?" She shook her head to clear it. "I had the weirdest dream that you were having your marefriend's foal," she said as she rose to a sitting position.

Chuckling, Cheerilee said, "I am."

"Oh." Berry Punch pulled out a half empty bottle of wine from seemingly nowhere and looked at it. Sighing, she threw it into the fireplace, and pulled out a bottle of Apple family brand applejack and took a deep swig.

Spitfire and Trixie slowly approached Twilight with worried looks upon their faces. Forestalling anything they might have to say, Twilight pulled them into a hug. "Don't worry. This doesn't change how I feel about you two a single iota."

"This... is a big change for us Hon; all of us. Regardless of your feelings for us, the situation is... different," Spitfire managed to get out.

Feeling a poke on her back, Twilight turned her head to see Spike standing behind her, looking nervous. "Does this mean you're going to marry Cheerilee?" he asked.

Twilight swept him up in the hug as well. "To be honest Spike, we hadn't even talked about that yet." She released them all and took a small step back. "We hadn't reached that stage yet, but I suppose this changes things, though."

"Twilight," Celestia said, gaining her attention. "Perhaps you should discuss this with your marefriends... in private?" She stood and trotted towards the door. "Spike, would you be a dear and escort me to Miss Berry Punch's bar? They're going to need some time alone." She looked to the barkeep and arched an eyebrow at her. "Besides, she and I have a... financial matter to discuss, and this would perhaps go down better over some drinks."

After Celestia herded Spike and Berry out and closed the door, the four mares looked at each other in awkward silence. "I... I'm sorry, girls," Twilight said after what felt like an eternity. "This is my fault. We hadn't even found our places within our relationship yet, and I do... this. I was so blinded by desire, I used a spell with which I had only minimal practice, and only a rudimentary understanding." She stood and began pacing in a circle around the large table dominating the center of the room.

"Normally, I spend a minimum of a month, just studying the spell, and another month experimenting before I even attempt something like this; but I just couldn't wait any longer." She hung her head in shame.

Cheerilee rested a hoof on her shoulder and rubbed small circles, trying to soothe her. "Sweetie, you don't have to marry anypony you don't want to."

Twilight looked at her, saying, "That's just it, Cheery! I _want_ to marry you! I want to marry you all!" she cried, turning to Trixie and Spitfire, a hysterical note in her voice. "Even setting aside that I can't be married to more than one pony at a time, we have _this_ hanging over our heads like a- a- a Sword of Dam Oakleaves!" Flecks of foam were forming at the corners of her mouth as she ranted. "This-"

A maroon hoof slapped her across the face, cutting off her tirade, and leaving a large, red welt on her cheek. "Don't you _dare_ refer to our baby like that!" Cheerilee yelled. "Our daughter is not a _this_, and she is certainly not a _thing_ putting an early end to our youthfulness." Her expression softened as she rested a hoof on her belly. "She will be healthy, happy, and the light of our lives." Cheerilee looked to Trixie and Spitfire, adding, "_All_ of our lives."

They enveloped Twilight in a hug while she broke down in sobs. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry," she choked out as she wept.

They held onto her, caressing whatever they could reach, and uttered soothing noise at her.

"It'll be alright, Hon," Spitfire said.

"We'll work it out together, Sweetie," Cheerilee added.

"Y- yes. Do not worry, Twilight. Together, we can do anything," Trixie nervously chimed in.

Literally surrounded in love, Twilight felt her self-control return, though she was still left shaken. "But what do we do? I can't marry all..." Her voice drifted off as an old memory came to her. Not wanting to leave their embrace, she used her magic to levitate a history book over to them, and began reading from it. She closed the book with a smile. "Of course! Why didn't I think of this before!"

"What is it, Twilight?" Trixie asked, as they released the mare from their embrace.

"Just a possible solution to the, ah, marriage dilemma of ours," The librarian answered. "But I'll have to check the law books back in Canterlot, and of course, I have to find out your feelings on this, and then we would have to determine-"

Spitfire cut her off by turning Twilight's face to hers, so they were nose-to-nose. "Just spit it out, Twilight. What kind of solution are we talking about here?"

Twilight stood on her hind legs and threw her forelegs into the air dramatically. "Just one of the oldest solutions to this kind of problem in Equestrian history!" she shouted.

Gasping in understanding, Cheerilee put a hoof to her mouth as she asked, "Twilight, you don't mean..."

"Yes!" the lavender mare exclaimed. "We're forming a herd!"

(\ /)

( . .)

*(")(")

As she poured out another measured amount of liquor into the tiny glass, Berry Punch considered the alicorn in front of her. Spike looked on with worry as Celestia downed this, her tenth straight shot of apple whiskey. He had only seen her drink like this once before, right after Twilight had gone back home to celebrate Mother's day. "Don't you think you ought to slow down a bit, Princess?"

Celestia looked down at him from her towering height, and gave him a sad smile. "I'm fine, Spike," she answered in a steady voice. She lifted the shot glass in her golden telekinetic field, which didn't wobble in the slightest. "See? Steady as a rock."

"Even allowing for your larger size, Your Highness," Berry said, "drinking that much on an empty stomach is bad for anypony."

Setting the glass down on the bar again, the Diarch slid it over to the wine-colored mare. "Indulge me."

Berry Punch sighed as she poured her another measure of the expensive drink. "You mind telling me what brought this on? As a certified bartender," she gestured to the framed certificate hanging on the wall behind her, "I have a practiced ear, and a closed mouth."

Celestia sighed, and seemed to lose all the happiness she was wearing like armor. Her frown in particular worried Spike. "Tell me, Miss Punch. Do you have any children?"

Taken aback at this non sequitur, the earth pony blinked a few times. "Yes, a filly. Why?"

Turning the now empty glass end-over-end in her hooves, Celestia smiled and gave a grunt of amusement. "Motherhood. The most nonexclusive club in the world." Berry nodded, finally understanding where this was going. The Princess, meanwhile leaned over in her stool until her head rested on the bar. "She's the apple of your eye, isn't she? You'd do anything for her, wouldn't you?"

"For my Li'l Berry, I'd move mountains."

Celestia toyed with her glass, using her telekinesis to make it dance. "Like any good _mother_ would."

Pouring herself a small glass of wine, and giving Spike a glass of ginger ale, Berry Punch relaxed against the bar. "So you really can't..."

Celestia shut her eyes tight, wincing at the unfinished question. "My little ponies are my children."

"But _she's_ special." It was a statement, rather than a question.

"A mother doesn't play favorites."

"Yet, she is."

"Yet, she is." Celestia sighed, watching the glass dance. After a few minutes passed, she said, "She made a picture for me when she was just a filly." Looking up the mare, she asked, "Would you like to see it?"

Knowing the joy of showing off something her child had made her, Berry couldn't help but nod and smile. With a flash of light, Celestia pulled forth one of her most prized treasures from safekeeping. A slightly yellowed piece of paper appeared on the bar. All three peered over to see it. It was a child's drawing, done in crayon. A large alicorn and a small purple unicorn filly dominated the paper. They sat in a green field of tall grass at a table, teacups floating beside them. Their smiles were wide as the sun shined down on them. They were even labeled so as to leave no confusion who they were. The artwork itself was crude, but small bits of minutia displayed the filly's attention to detail. Things like the sky and the grass meeting at the horizon, the inclusion of the entire tea service and not just the cups, even the careful lettering of their names spoke volumes about her meticulous nature.

With a wistful smile, Celestia ran her hoof around the purple filly in the picture. "I never meant for this to happen. She just sort of... melted the ice in my heart."

"I know what you mean," Berry said. "I never intended to have a foal as young as I did, but one look at her face..."

The moment was spoiled by the sound of the door opening and a pony walking in. Berry Punch turned to shoo them away. "Sorry, but we're close- MOM!"

A dark red mare with a meticulously styled pink mane and tail walked up to her. "Hello, dear. Just coming by to drop of my payment for the bet."

Berry smirked mirthlessly at her as she took her bits. "I still can't believe you bet against Cheers. She's your own daughter, for crying out loud."

Berry's mother waved a hoof dismissively. "Oh, I was just being realistic, Berry. I was so sure that flashy pegasus was going to sweep her off her feet. Besides, you know your sister as well as I do. There was no way she'd have the courage to do it first. And in a way, I was right."

"But you were also wrong," Berry Punch retorted.

"In the best way possible," her mother said with a smile. "I just wish she had been able to win that mare's heart all to herself."

"To be fair," a white pegasus beside her said, "Twilight Sparkle is a lot of mare. Besides, at least they're happy, right?"

The mare took in the pony beside her for the first time, trying to remember where she had seen her before. Even the pink mane and tail, along with the smiling sun cutie mark looked familiar. Holding out a hoof, she said with a wide smile, "I don't believe we've met before. Vintage Fields."

The pegasus took her hoof with a smile. "Sunny Days. A pleasure to meet you."

Spike leaned around the pegasus and waved to the older mare, who waved back. "Oh. Hello, Spike. Didn't see you there." Turning back to the pegasus, she smiled coyly at her. "So what brings _you_ here, Sunny Days?"

She smiled back. "Just shooting the breeze with Berry, but mostly to pick up my winnings."

Berry Punch, who had been standing there with a look of shock on her face since Celestia quietly transformed herself; ducked beneath the counter and brought up a good-sized sack that clinked as it hit the table. "Here you go. I hope you have something good planned for this. Five thousand bits is a nice chunk of change."

"Oh my, yes. A nice trust fund set aside for Twilight's foals will be a sweet gesture," Celestia said, running her hooves through the loose coins. "Especially seeing as the seed money is coming from the pony who profited the most, financially from this."

"Twilight's foals?" Vintage Fields asked, wide-eyed. Narrowing her eyes, she looked to a smug Berry Punch. "Is there something you want to tell me?"

Berry Punch grinned at her, and did her best Big Macintosh impression. "Eenope."

(\ /)

( . .)

*(")(")

"Are you all sure about this?" Twilight asked. "I mean, I'm not exactly what most ponies think of when they hear the words 'leadership material'."

Spitfire laid a hoof over the librarian's reassuringly. "Twilight Hon, we've been over this. You're the only one we would even consider for a position like this over us. We know you won't abuse our trust, or use it for some sort of gain."

Trixie sidled up to her and nuzzled her cheek. "It's not that we don't trust each other, so much as it's... well, you're the central point in our lives. The tie that binds us as a herd."

Cheerilee kissed her chastely on the nose. "And just because we don't feel for each other the way we feel for you; that doesn't mean we won't eventually. When that day comes, we can... reevaluate our arrangement. Besides," she looked at Trixie and Spitfire with undisguised lust. "That experience we had with the... unexpected heat opened up my eyes to just how attractive these two are as well. Personally, I wouldn't mind another... taste?"

Shooting her a smoldering look, Trixie licked her lips unconsciously. "Mmm... nor would Trixie."

The door opened, forestalling further discussion down that line. Celestia, still in her Sunny Days disguise lead Spike and an inebriated Vintage Fields.

"Cel- er, Sunny Days? What are you doing here?" Twilight asked, her voice rising in pitch. _Oh my stars, what mischief is she up to now?_

"Twilight! There you -hic- are!" Celestia all but shouted as she swayed on her hooves. She ran a serpentine path up to her student, stopping only when they were nose-to-nose. "Jusht heard the good newsh!" She pulled back and winked at all four of the mares.

Trixie and Cheerilee looked ready to commit murder, but Spitfire seemed to be having trouble holding in her laughter, while Twilight appeared to be about one or two blushes from dying of embarrassment. Turning to her marefriends, the librarian said, "Girls, this is my old, er, friend from Canterlot, Sunny Days. Sunny, this is Trixie, Cheerilee, and-"

"Shpitfire! How yah been, yah old rogue?" Celestia slurred out, beating Twilight to the punch.

Shaking her head in amusement, Spitfire walked up and slapped the pegasus hard on the back. "Much better than you, you old cad!" She recoiled from her breath, saying, "Phew! You smell like a brewery! Kinda early to be hitting the sauce there, isn't it?"

Celestia laughed raucously, and sat down on her rump before she fell down. "I'll have you know that these days, I'm all about the spirits, sho I shmell like a dish... a dishush... a dishtillery! -hic- Beshidesh, it'sh five-uh-clock shomewhere."

With her thus occupied, Twilight took the opportunity to whisper to Trixie and Cheerilee. "Don't worry, that's the Princess in disguise. She does this sometimes to 'get away from it all' as she says." Her marefriends calmed down, but their worry returned when she said, "I just wish she wouldn't drink quite so much when she does."

"So _this_ is the mare that got my little baby all in a 'motherly way'," interrupted the dark red earth pony.

"Mother!" Cheerilee shrieked, turning a darker shade. "You ran into Berry, didn't you? I swear she never _could_ keep her trap shut when it came to stirring up trouble."

Vintage swept up her daughter in a hug and petted her mane. "Oh, my poor baby is going to be a poor momma!" she cooed.

Cheerilee rolled her eyes and sighed. "Mother, I'm hardly poor, and neither is Twilight." She pulled herself free of the embrace, saying, "Ugh! Must you drink like this so early? Or were you just trying to 'pick up mares' aga-" Sudden realization and horror dawned on the teacher as she saw a smirk crawl onto her mother's face, and a lusty look as she eyed 'Sunny'."

Her mother turned to regard Twilight for the first time. "So _you're_ the one who caught my baby's eye."

"_A Historical Reference of Famous Vineyards of Ancient Equestria_," Twilight replied.

Vintage looked at her in confusion. "I beg your pardon?"

"We met before," Twilight said. "You checked out _A Historical Reference of Famous Vineyards of Ancient Equestria _from here." She put a hoof to her chin in thought. "As a matter of fact, you're two days overdue on it." She beamed at the older mare happily. "But since you're Cheery's mom, I'll waive the fee if you just bring it in."

The room grew silent. "Bwa ha ha ha ha! That is _sho_ classhic Twilight!" laughed Celestia.

Cheerilee pinched the bridge of her nose with a hoof. "Could we talk about this later, Mother? Like, when you're sober?"

Vintage tousled her daughter's mane. "Alright, baby, alright. I'll drop by later in the week." She turned to Twilight and waved a hoof at her threateningly. "And _you_ better take good care of my baby _and_ my grand-baby, or you're going to be in big trouble, missy."

Swallowing hard, Twilight nodded, actually going so far as to stand at attention and salute. "Yes, ma'am!"

Turning to "Sunny", she asked, "How about you, hot stuff? Want to come see how I... _plow the fields_ at my vineyard?"

Celestia laughed again throatily. "Maybe neksht time. I haven't vishited with Twilight at all -hic- yet."

"Your loss." She turned to Cheerilee as she left. "Baby, don't be such a stranger. Come over so we can catch up."

Cheerilee covered her face with one hoof and waved her off with the other. When the door closed, she bowed low to Celestia. "I am _so_ sorry, Princess. She doesn't mean any disrespect, she's just..." She gave up halfway and shrugged.

The Princess glowed as she resumed her true form and laughed, but more like what her subjects were used to. "No need to apologize for your mother, Miss Cheerilee. She's just being honest about what she wants." She turned around and shook her rump at them. "And really, who can blame her?"

The only sound in the room was the dull thud as Twilight fainted to the floor.

(\ /)

( . .)

*(")(")

Rover watched carefully from his hidden position. He had hardly believed his luck when the Timber Wolves told him about _this_ pony. Not only did she live close to the Everfree forest, but she matched the description of one of the ponies that had cost him his last pack. _Yes, that's her, alright. I recognize that smile with it's false kindness. Pretending to care about all those little creatures. She's got them all fooled, but I've seen her true nature. Her cruelty._ His rage building, Rover clawed at the tree that hid him from view.

Unable to bear to look at the pony, giving all her mock tenderness to the poor, deluded creatures around her; Rover brought his attention to the tree in front of him. It was a shock to see just how deep his claws had dug into the trunk. He looked down at his claws as he flexed his paw. They had grown much sharper and stronger than he had ever remembered them being.

_It said that the power It gave me would change me. I wonder why..._ Just like every time his thoughts had traveled down the road to wonder at It's motivations, his eyes glazed over, becoming dull and unseeing. A small trickle of drool dripped from one corner of his mouth until he shook his head and returned to watching the pegasus below him as she fed the small critters around her.

He suddenly ducked behind the tree, leaving only a pointed ear and an eye visible, as a larger, dark blue pony exited the cottage. This larger pony- not a stallion, he noted- spread her wings in what he was sure was an aggressive stance and scanned the treeline.

"What's wrong, Luna?" Even from this distance, Rover was able to clearly hear what the yellow pegasus said.

Without taking her attention away from what she was doing, Luna replied, "We... _felt_ something, Fluttershy. A... malevolence... directed unto thou." Fluttershy squeaked in terror and hid behind Luna's legs."Fear not, Dear Heart. We shan't let harm befall thee." She began backing up, edging the pegasus towards the house. "Mayhap we shouldst abscond to the relative safety of thine home for now. We shalt erect more formidable defenses at a later time."

As the door closed behind them, Rover smiled, baring razor sharp teeth. Reaching into a small bag hanging from his belt, he drew forth a swath of green, knitted cloth. He brought the soft cashmere up to his nose and breathed deeply, locking her scent into his mind. Rover had nearly jumped for joy when the pegasus had removed the scarf and left it hanging on the fencepost while she worked.

He turned the scarf around and admired the rose quartz gemstones arranged into a butterfly pattern. They glittered in the dappled sunlight that filtered through the canopy. He put the scarf away, deciding to find a way to remove the gems later. He still had much to do before returning to see what his pack had found on the search he had sent them.

Dropping down to all fours, Rover ran through the forest, quiet as a shadow. Not so much as a single leaf rustled in his passing. He didn't stop until the sound of applebucking caught his attention. Moving to a slow trot and crouching down low, the Diamond Dog approached the apple orchard.

It wasn't hard to spot his second target for the day; she was making no effort to hide, after all. _There she is... the strong one._ The cart of gems she had pulled away was filled with the largest and heaviest of the six piles, bespeaking of her tough nature. Rover watched the farmer as she made her rounds, bucking trees, and picking up stray apples that had missed the baskets set below them.

"Applejack!" A pile of baskets with legs ran up to the mare, who stopped herself, mid-buck. The baskets slid to the ground, revealing a small yellow filly. "Here's the baskets, can I go play now?"

Applejack pushed back her hat and considered her younger sister. "Did'ja finish all your chores?"

"Yup!"

"Your homework?"

"Yup!"

"Gonna be at the clubhouse?"

"Uh huh! We got a meeting today. Scootaloo said she had an idea on how to get our cutie mark during school, but couldn't do it there." The yellow filly's enthusiasm was infectious.

The farmer grinned at her. "Alright, but be home in time for dinner!" she called out as the Crusader left on her newest crusade, almost before her assent was fully given. She sighed as she watched her disappear around a bend in the trail leading to her clubhouse. "Ah, to be young a'gin."

Applejack walked over to the cart filled to the brim with baskets of apples, but stopped short. "What in tarnation? Where'd it go?" She looked all around, but couldn't find a sign of the red kerchief she had been using to wipe away the sweat.

Rover kept the filly in his sights as he trailed after her. He put the red kerchief away into a separate bag hanging from his belt. It didn't take them long to reach the clubhouse, and his feral grin widened into something truly sadistic as he caught a familiar scent on the wind.

A white filly waved from the balcony of the treehouse excitedly. "Apple Bloom!" she squeaked

"Hiya, Sweetie Belle! Is Scootaloo here, yet?" Apple Bloom answered.

The two met halfway up the ramp, where upon Sweetie Belle grabbed her friend's hoof and dragged her the rest of the way up. "Wait'll you hear this! It'll get us our cutie marks for sure, and with no tree sap!" They disappeared into the treehouse chattering away about Scootaloo's idea.

Rover's sadistic grin grew downright _evil_ as a plan formed in his mind. _Oh, yes. Ponies will_ PAY.


	5. Chapter 5

**I WOULD DO ANYTHING FOR LOVE**

* * *

Chapter 5: Some Days Are Diamond

* * *

Twilight completed her fifteenth run through of her calculations, nodding in approval. A swipe of telekinesis erased the crudely drawn math in the dirt in front of her, and she eyed the mountain before her; or rather, she examined the _hole_ in the mountain with her magical sensor and smiled.

"So what's the verdict, Twilight?"

The sensor swiveled to face Trixie who was sitting next to Cheerilee and Spitfire, as well as Spike and her friends, without the lavender unicorn turning her head; a disconcerting sight to the uninitiated. "Well," Twilight began, taking a deep breath, "I've calculated the density, friability, and melting point of the rock, and factored in the structural strength of the shape, and come to the conclusion that a one-half hoof wide beam of non-elemental energy at one-point-eight six five terajewels, burning for four-point-two tenths of a second each at three key points at an angle of-"

"Twilight, hon; in plain Equish, please," Spitfire interrupted.

A blush spread across her cheeks, and despite the blindfold, managed to look sheepish. "Aheh. Sorry. I think that I can take this problem down safely with three shots, leaving the clean-up crew with a minimum of mess with which to deal."

"That is excellent news, then, my Faithful Student,." Twilight's sensor swiveled up to see Celestia landing with an old, grizzled pegasus wearing a hardhat and bright orange safety vest. "Twilight, you remember Mr. Dolomite, your old engineering instructor."

Twilight gave the old dark blue pegasus a timid smile. "Hello again, sir. It's been a while, hasn't it?"

The gruff stallion looked down at her with slightly grim expression. "Hmph. Blinded yourself again, have you? I would have thought you'd learn by now to be more careful about what you look at with that magic eye of yours."

Sweat was beginning to break out on her brow as she answered. "At least it wasn't from looking at a load of unrefined mythril this time."

One corner of the dour pegasus's mouth turned up in a slight smile and his eyes twinkled a little. "At least that," he conceded. "Well, let's have a look at your demolition plan, then."

Twilight laid out her plan, going into details, and answering his questions when asked. She looked up at him when finished, and asked, "So what do you think, sir?"

Dolomite scrubbed the stubble on his chin with a hoof. "I think you should have gone into civil engineering like I suggested to you when you were a filly."

Celestia smiled at them. "High praise coming from you, Dolomite."

The old stallion's cheeks actually colored a little and he scratched the back of his head. "Aw, Princess. Shame on you, making an old stallion like me blush." Suddenly remembering that they had an audience, Dolomite straightened up and cleared his throat. "Why don't we begin, Twilight."

Twilight stifled a giggle and concentrated on her magic. A white mist formed around her, coalescing into a cloud large enough for two ponies. Another moment to cast a spell, and she stepped onto the cloud, testing its firmness. Satisfied, she gestured for the Royal Geologist to board with her.

He stepped onto the piece of fluff, bouncing on it deliberately. "You've gotten better at making these too, I see."

Shuffling her hooves, Twilight replied, "Well, you know what they say, 'practice makes perfect' and all that. It helps if it's a humid day or we're near a body of water." She looked over to Spitfire and said, "Ready?"

The golden pegasus dropped her goggles into place and took up a position behind the cloud. "Ready!"

"Then take us up to an altitude of four hundred fifty two hooves, on a vector of thirty six point two four degrees for point three two one kilotrots," the librarian directed.

The speed at which the Wonderbolt complied nearly knocked the elder pegasus off of the cloud, but Twilight steadied him. He looked at her strangely, so she answered his unasked question, "I modified the original cloudwalking spell so that there's a little bit of an adhesive effect on the hooves. Prevents slippage."

Dolomite chuckled to himself and shook his head. "I was wrong. You belong doing what you're doing."

The cloud came to a halt with an inexplicable screech. "Here you go, Hon."

The sensor swiveled around to the back of Twilight's head to face her lover. "Thanks, Spitfire." It rotated around again to face front once more. The cloud changed shape slightly, gaining a low wall behind its passengers, and the unicorn planted her rear hooves against it as she spread her legs into a more stable stance. "Now hold on tight," she said. "This is going to have quite a bit of recoil and backlash.

Spitfire braced herself against the cloud when she saw Twilight's horn began glowing its lavender aura. A faint hum could be heard as the aura shrank back down into the horn again. A beam of white light shot forward from her magical appendage, followed shortly by a deafening sonic boom. The beam reached out and touched the damaged mountain, leaving another neat hole bisecting the tunnel precisely.

Dolomite straightened his hardhat, which had been knocked askew by the back blast. "Well," he said, "_that_ was more impressive than I had thought it would be."

Spitfire rubbed her hoof in her ear. **"WHAT?"** she shouted.

**"SORRY ABOUT THAT!"** Twilight yelled. **"I SHOULD HAVE WARNED YOU THAT IT MAY GET NOISY!"**

**"WHAT?"** bellowed Spitfire and Dolomite.

Twilight's horn glowed again, and everypony's hearing was restored. "Sorry. I forgot about the noise. I threw a spell on us all to protect us from further deafening," she said sheepishly.

The golden pegasus came around and kissed her on the lips. "Thanks hon. You're a real doll."

The old stallion beside them gave an attention-getting cough. "Ahem. Not that I'm against watching two mares kiss, but maybe you should save that for later? You know, like when you _don't_ have an audience?"

Spitfire wrapped her forelegs around Twilight's neck and blew him a raspberry. "You're just jealous that you don't have a Twilight of your own."

The unicorn blushed and gently pushed her back. "Spitfire, please. We're in the middle of a demolition here. Speed and timing are of the essence, right now," she said, trying to sound professional.

Holding up her hooves in defeat, the Wonderbolt said, "Alright, alright. Just remember you owe me for this favor. Stockings and gar-"

She was silenced by Twilight's forehooves being shoved into her mouth. The librarian looked over her shoulder at Dolomite and gave a nervous chuckle. "Shall we get back to work, then?"

Without waiting for a reply, Spitfire pushed their cloud to Twilight's next designated spot. The procedure was repeated twice more, leaving a mountain that resembled Swiss cheese, groaning as it tried to continue supporting its own weight. The unicorn levitated a rock the size of her head, and dropped it on the mountain's peak. A deep rumbling filled the air, turning into an ear-shattering, thunderous cannonade. The peak collapsed in on itself in an almost slow-motion manner; or at least, that's the way it seemed to the audience. All told, it took almost three minutes for the rubble to finally settle, leaving a dust cloud hanging around the "peak" which now stood over five hundred hooves lower.

"Well, _that_ was spectacular," said Spitfire.

Twilight turned to throw her a grin. "Hush, you. Take us back down to the others, if you please."

The pegasus happily pushed them back down to the ground again, where an appreciative audience were giving a hearty round of applause. Twilight hopped down as she dissipated the cloud. "I trust this concludes my community service?" she asked.

Celestia smirked down at her knowingly. "It's a good start."

(\ /)

( . .)

*(")(")

As she silently trotted through the forest, the mare looked everywhere as if she was sightseeing in a park, rather than walking through one of the most dangerous pieces of wilderness known to ponykind. The creatures of the forest had little to say to the gray earth pony however, ignoring her presence entirely.

A hooded and cloaked figure separated from the woods and stepped onto the trail, putting a halt to the mare's walk. The two stared at each other for long minutes, neither moving a muscle. A gust of wind blew through, rippling the shrouded figure's cloak, dozens of brown and gold leaves eclipsing their vision momentarily.

"An ill wind blows through these woods; what it brings does no pony any good," the cloaked figure said in a low, but clearly feminine voice.

Plain Sight adjusted her flatcap, and slowly walked closer a few steps. "So you've told your liaison. What we need are details. We need to know what we're dealing with here."

The hood came down, revealing Zecora's face to the light of the early morning sun. "Have you seen the zap apples, lately? I hear they are quite tasty."

A frown found its way to the earth pony's face. Plain Sight didn't frown often; and when she did, violence often followed. It was an effort, but she held her anger in check. _Just keep calm. She's never steered us wrong as a source before; and a mare of her age an experience wouldn't use this line of communication frivolously._ "What do zap apples have to do with anything? Their season has already passed."

Zecora sighed and shook her head sadly. "It is plain to see you have not read your history. When the timberwolves cry out, the zap apples are ready to sprout." As if on cue, a lone wolf-like howl could be heard in the distance; followed by an answering howl.

"Couldn't that just mean that they're on the hunt? Or settling a territory dispute?" Plain Sight asked.

Zecora looked towards the sound of the howls, more joining the first two. "Allow me to be blunt; timberwolves do not hunt. Though territory is another story, they do not howl to be contrary."

As the zebra fell silent, Plain Sight put a hoof to her chin in thought. _If the zap apple season has already passed, and the timberwolves only howl when they're about to bloom, then why are they howling now?_ The gray mare looked to the zebra again, one eyebrow arched up. "Have the zap apples ever been known to bloom more than once a year?"

"Though I have lived here for just a few short years," Zecora said with an approving smile, "the occurrence you speak of never reached my ears."

Plain Sight stood silently in thought for a moment. "Have there been any _other_ unusual events in the forest lately?" she asked after mulling things over.

The zebra nodded sagely. "I would not tell a lie, but manticores are in short supply. Though what worries me most, is there seems to be some sort of host."

"A _host_?"

"Indeed, it's most perplexing," Zecora elaborated, "but I find this intensely vexing. Beneath the life most verdant, there lies an undercurrent. There's a feeling that can be read, one that fills me with nameless dread."

Another howl got Plain Sight's attention, and she looked off into the distance. "You don't mind if we send some ponies in to investigate further, do you?" She looked back to Zecora when no answer was forthcoming, only to find that she had disappeared. With a wry smile, she said, "Huh. So _that's_ what it's like to be on the receiving end."

(\ /)

( . .)

*(")(")

Twilight huffed and puffed as she lay on the grass. Ponies in a similar state were scattered across the field, all gasping for breath. She looked over at Trixie who was sprawled out on her back, a sheen of sweat covering her from horn to hoof. Cheerilee still managed to be standing, but her legs were like rubber, and shaking visibly. Spitfire was sparring with Rainbow Dash and Applejack, the only three ponies left standing as far as the eye could see. Princesses Celestia and Luna excepted, of course.

"Ah didn' think you'd be that good at runnin', Miss Spitfire," Applejack said as she dodged a playful punch from Dash.

"Of course I am," the golden pegasus replied. "Running is great cardio, and as a Wonderbolt, I have to keep in tip-top shape; more so as the _captain_ of said Wonderbolts. And please, just call me Spitfire." she added with a wink.

"I still think I would have won if it weren't for you," Dash said to Spitfire.

The Wonderbolt just shrugged off her comment. "Hey, I just asked you if you really thought you couldn't win a _hoof_ race without using your wings, is all. _You're_ the one who took it as a challenge."

Twilight was oblivious to this exchange. All her attention had been drawn to Celestia; or rather, the pony that was whispering into Celestia's ear. This pony was dressed as a royal guard, but was much scrawnier than any guard she had seen. It was impossible to tell what they were talking about from this distance, but from the subtle way she noticed Celestia stiffen up, it was rather serious. When the guard had ducked back into the crowd, Twilight found the strength to stand again and saunter over to her mentor. "Something wrong, Princess?"

"Just a scouting report, Twilight. Nothing to worry over," the Princess replied. "I'll tell you about it later, if you like."

Twilight gave her a nervous smile in return.

(\ /)

( . .)

*(")(")

Sweetie Belle looked on nervously as Apple Bloom cinched the unicorn's harness a little tighter than was comfortable. "Are you _sure_ about this? I _did_ promise Rarity that I wouldn't try anything dangerous to get my cutie mark any more."

Scootaloo poked her head up from where she was inspecting the wheels of the soapbox dragster. "Of _course_ it's safe. You got the helmet, don't you?"

Sweetie Belle looked up to the helmet adorning her head, then back down to what could only be charitably called a "racetrack", and gulped. "It's just that we're _awfully_ high up."

The orange filly gave a noise of dismissal. "Pfft. Please. You're not going to get your cutie mark by being a scardey-cat. If a little excitement is what it takes to get it, then why not try it? Besides, it's better than getting a cutie mark for something boring like reading books or collecting buttons. Right, Apple Bloom?"

Apple Bloom gazed down the track- no, make that ramp, and bit her lower lip. _We didn't have time to clear the path as much as ah would have liked (what with Scootaloo wanting to do this before we're called home for dinner), and the cart _did_ look like it could use a little more time in the garage, and maybe Sweetie _did have a point about the height... "Ah dunno, Scootaloo. Maybe we _should_ do a little more work on it first? Ah'm all for gettin' our cutie marks an all, but it won't do us any good if we end up in a fiery wreck before we can enjoy them."

Scootaloo sighed as she looked down the track they built into the steep hill in the woods, then looked to the sky in an effort to estimate the time they have left. "Fine," she said, hanging her head in defeat.

Sweetie Belle breathed a sigh of relief and made to unbuckle herself from the cart while Scootaloo turned around to head down the track and begin clearing it better, Apple Bloom following her. So it was, that the unicorn filly was the only one to notice that Scootaloo had accidentally knocked loose the chocks that was holding the cart in place. "Uuuwwwaaaahhhh!" Sweetie Belle screamed as she raced past her friends.

"Sweetie Belle!" they shouted in unison before running after her.

The unicorn was trying desperately to apply the brakes, but they were far too weak to be effective. She saw a large rock loom in the road and frantically tried to veer away. She dodged that rock, only to have a tire hit another so hard, she snapped the steering wheel off at the shaft. She looked at it dumbly, then resumed her screaming at double volume.

The cart had nearly reached the bottom of the hill (and the earthen embankment they had made to act as an emergency stop), when the nose of it dipped down, finding a sinkhole previously undiscovered. The front end sank into it, sending the rear up into the air. Sweetie Belle was securely strapped into the seat. Unfortunately, the seat wasn't as secure in _its_ seating; and Sweetie Belle, still strapped in, went flying into the woods, seat and all.

"Sweetie Belle!" Scootaloo and Apple Bloom cried out. They had almost reached the cart when two _very_ large figures jumped out in front of them, blocking the way. The fillies found themselves staring down the jaws of two timberwolves.

Sweetie Belle groaned weakly as she saw the ground come closer, only to see it retreat, then repeat again. She looked around to find that the seat had become attached to a tree through sap, and was bouncing back and forth like a bungee cord. Sweetie herself, was naturally, covered in sap and pine needles as well. She would have facehoofed from this development, but had learned early on, that to do so would only make the situation worse when that hoof became trapped by sap to her head.

Instead, she tried using her teeth to work the straps loose. A rustling in the bushes stopped her cold, and she called out, "Apple Bloom? Scootaloo? Is that you?" Silence met her hails. She looked about nervously, but her frantic turning only managed to set her spinning as well as bouncing. "Girls?" she squeaked out. "I'm gonna be sick."

"We can't have that, now can we?" Cried out a feminine voice heroically.

Sweetie Belle gaped as she saw who walked out of a nearby bush. "Mare Do Well! I thought you retired!"

The mysterious mare shrugged her shoulders. "I still do a little heroing on the side. But there's no time for that now. We need to go help your friends!"

"My friends?" Sweetie asked as the older mare pulled her down, snapping the sap like an overstretched rubber band. "The only help they'll need is keeping me from tying them up and running _them_ down the hill in that deathtrap!"

A pair of screams reached them through the woods, quieting the filly's rant. Mare Do Well put her up on her back, attaching her with the sap. "Sorry about this, but we need to get there fast." As soon as the filly was in securely in place, the mare ran through the forest, faster than Sweetie Belle would have believed a pony could. With a single leap, she reached a low- hanging tree branch, and bound from branch to branch in a way that squirrels would envy.

They bounded into the clearing where the fillies had built the ramp to find them cowering under the wreckage of their racer, seeking cover from the two large timberwolves that were trying to dig them out.

Mare Do Well wasted no time in scaling the tree she was in, practically slithering her way up through the branches until she was nearly to the top. She wrapped all four legs around the trunk and began swaying it back and forth until she could reach another treetop and clamp down with her teeth. "Hurry! Oh please hurry!" Sweetie Belle urged as the mare used her forelegs to bend the tree in which they sat until it was nearly doubled over. Taking careful aim, she let go of the other tree, catapulting them straight into the two wooden creatures, hooves first with a great _**THWACK**_.

The timberwolves shattered in an explosion of wood scraps as she sailed right through them. Mare Do Well landed on her hooves, coming to a skidding stop facing the frightened fillies. They gasped in surprise and ran out to her. She ripped Sweetie Belle from her back and hoofed her over to them, _still_ in the seat. "You girls take her home while I make sure that these two don't follow you back." Already, a green glow was surrounding the wood shards as they moved closer together.

"Yes, Ma'am!" Apple Bloom answered, and the two fillies raced off with their precious cargo.

The costumed vigilante examined said costume, lamenting the damage to it. She hadn't meant for that to happen when she "borrowed" it from the Carousel Boutique, and would have to repair it before returning it. She just hoped that the cape would cover the patch of gray coat that showed through the hole on the back.

When the timberwolves had fully reformed, she smirked at them. "Why don't we see how well you play 'follow the leader'?" Without further preamble, she ran at the creatures, and slid under them, regaining her hoofing to run off, leaving them to chase after her away from Ponyville.

As the three departed, a figure arose from the ground regaining his normal gray color from the brown hue he had taken as he hid among the dirt. _Ponies have a protector? No matter. All ponies will fall to the might of Ro-_ He stopped in mid-thought. _No. Rover is not a name to strike fear into the hearts of ponies everywhere. I need a new name._ He thought for a moment and grinned. "Yes. From now on, ponies everywhere will learn to fear the name of **BLACK DIAMOND**!" Laughing maniacally, he sank once more into the earth.

(\ /)

( . .)

*(")(")

"Do yah think she's gonna be okay?" Apple Bloom asked as she looked back over her shoulder.

Scootaloo looked at her friend as if she had just grown a second head. "Of course she'll be okay. That's the Mysterious Mare Do Well back there! You saw what she did to those timberwolves! BAM! POW!" She stood on her hind legs and started shadowboxing.

"Whoa, hey! Easy up there," Sweetie Belle cried out. "If you're not going to let me out, then at least keep it steady. I already feel like I'm going to hurl."

"APPLE BLOOM!"

"SWEETIE BELLE!"

"SCOOTALOO!"

The fillies were surprised to hear their names being called out in the distance, though their faces lit up when they recognized the callers. They ran through the underbrush, heedless of briars and small animals who scattered before them. They burst out of the bushes to find family and friends welcoming them with open forelegs.

Rarity plucked Sweetie Belle up from her friends' backs and cradled her close, heedless of the mess. Apple Bloom ran to her sister and brother who immediately swept her up in a hug, and Scootaloo, after a moment's hesitation ran to Rainbow Dash and began telling her all about their rescue from the timberwolves by Mare Do Well, helped along the way by her two friends.

After hugging the filly close, Applejack clocked her on the head just hard enough to let her know that she had done wrong before leading her home, and a thoroughly scandalized Rarity whisked Sweetie Belle away for a clean up and scolding. Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie escorted Scootaloo home, leaving Twilight, Fluttershy, Spitfire, Trixie and Cheerilee behind.

Twilight sent her gaze out over the forest, a worried frown on her face. Trixie came up beside her with a nuzzle. "What's wrong, dearest? You look troubled."

If anything, Twilight's frown deepened. "Some things about their story don't add up. Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Applejack and myself all played the part of Mare Do Well when she originally hit the scene. Not only did we agree to retire that... persona, we were all accounted for before, during, and after the race. There is no way it could have possibly been one of us, and as far as I know, we were the only ones with the costumes, and Rarity has those."

Cheerilee walked up behind her. "But it's not those things that are bothering you, are they?"

"You know what it is, Cheery," Twilight replied.

"What are timberwolves doing this far from the Everfree?" they asked in unison.

Twilight turned to face them. "AJ built the treehouse in this area specifically because it was so far from it, but if they're coming out this far..."

Spitfire came up to her. "You're thinking of going in there to investigate, aren't you?"

She nodded in reply. "If the town is in danger, I need to do what I can to protect it."

"Not without us, you're not," Trixie said vehemently, with Cheerilee nodding.

"Trixie, Cheerilee, please understand that I can't lead you into this kind of danger," Twilight pleaded. "It's one thing to bring Spitfire in since she's a soldier or Applejack since she knows her way around the forest, but I can't ask that of you two."

"So who's asking?" Cheerilee responded. If you're going in there, so are we; end of story."

"But-"

"I believe," Trixie interrupted, "she said 'end of story'."

Twilight hung her head in defeat.

(\ /)

( . .)

*(")(")

Plain Sight looked across the ruins skeptically. "Is this _really_ the place, Your Highness?"

Luna beside her, nodded. "Verily. We needst only knock here thusly," she knocked on a half-buried stone wall that vaguely resembled a square archway that was later filled in, "and _voila_!" She pushed aside some moss to reveal three gems that glowed with a golden light, making the "door" semi-transparent.

The alicorn of the night walked through with confidence, followed shortly by the more hesitant earth pony. The trip through the black marble passage gave way to the enormous lobby of the immense library. Plain Sight was startled by the sight of the black dragon who appeared to be working at a receptionist's desk.

Onyx noticed their entry and removed the ridiculous half-moon glasses he wore. "Princess Luna! How good to see you again. We weren't expecting another visit quite so soon."

Luna smiled grimly at the dragon. "We art afraid it is business most troubling that prompts our visitation, rather than thy company. Pray, is Nyx otherwise occupied?"

The soft padding of leonine paws as big as a pony could be heard, and all three turned their attention to the massive form of the librarian. Plain Sight let out a gasp and tried to look as small as she could before the sphinx. "I'm here, Luna. I sensed your troubled emotions when you entered. Is there anything with which I can help?"

The alicorn stepped aside and pushed Plain Sight in front of her. "Sooth, we doth have need of thy eyes and ears. Plain Sight?"

The gray mare stepped forward and bowed. "Plain Sight, Ma'am. It's an honor to meet someone the Princess esteems so highly."

Nyx nodded towards her. "Likewise. What did the Princess mean by what she said?"

Taking a deep breath, Plain Sight asked, "Have you noticed anything odd going on in the Everfree forest? Unusual creature behavior, weather patterns, terrestrial phenomena, anything at all out of place?"

The sphinx arched an eyebrow at her. "You realize just _which_ forest you're talking about, correct? Unusual anywhere else would be just another day here." Plain Sight rolled her eyes, causing Nyx to chuckle. "I kid, I kid. I know of what you speak," she said, suddenly growing serious. "There is some sort of... elemental spirit out there. I haven't been able to pierce it's shrouds with my divinations, but I have been able to determine that it is a fairly new to this particular area, but extremely old."

She looked off further into the library, a concerned expression on her face. "I'm sure that if we were to meet in person, it would be a different story; but for anything to be able to hide from even my simplest auguries is worrisome." Her eyes became solid black pits, allowing no light to escape, and her voice took on an odd double echo quaver.

_An evil as old as time,_

_returned to sate Its hunger,_

_though It alone could undo,_

_everything done when younger,_

_It seeks a much worse crime._

_Twice and twice before It has tried,_

_to rend unity asunder,_

_each time through a new avenue,_

_to take, pillage, and plunder,_

_and twice and twice before, It has died._

_The time grows near,_

_this opportunity It cannot waste,_

_Its final chance a desperate attitude,_

_heedless of mistakes made in haste,_

_It knows only fear._

With a thunderous _**BOOM**_, Nyx reeled back as if physically struck, falling to the floor. In a flash, Onyx was at her side, cradling her head, which bled from her eyes.

"Nyx!" all three shouted.

The dragon placed an ear fin next to her nose and nodded. "She's breathing, but I'm afraid you'll get nothing more than that from her today. I haven't seen a backlash this bad in many centuries." He turned to his guests with an apologetic smile. "You may as well go home. It will be some time before she recovers."

"Mayhap there is some assistance We might be able to render?" Luna asked.

Onyx shook his head. "I'm afraid not, Your Highness. After an event like this, the only thing that can help is rest. Though I will tell you something that she was reluctant to part with earlier, but you will find intriguing and worrisome. Only a being equal to or greater than either of you would be able to hide from Nyx's divinations."


	6. Chapter 6

**I WOULD DO ANYTHING FOR LOVE**

* * *

Chapter 6: Who Can It Be Now?

* * *

"I'm sorry, Cheerilee, but the Princess is right. A mare in your condition should not be anywhere near that forest. It's far too dangerous." Twilight sighed in exasperation for the twenty third time in the last hour. She nuzzled the distraught mare, and winced when she pulled away from her a little. This did not go by unnoticed by her lovers or Applejack who were preparing to go with her, nor Rarity or Celestia who had gathered to see them off in the field near the forest.

Cheerilee glared at her hard. "Are you saying that I'm not strong enough to protect our baby?"

Sighing for the twenty fourth time with waning patience, Twilight said, "From the physical threats, maybe, but how would you fight off a field of wild magic? What would you do if a dislocated spirit attempted to possess her? What if you run into a cockatrice?" Seeing the earth pony back down and wilt a little left her tasting ashes in her mouth. She ran a hoof through her mane to clear it from her eyes. "Cheery, love, you are one of the three mares I would want at my side if I have to face danger." The librarian kissed her and placed her hoof gently on the teacher's belly. "But we have to think of our little one, first, last, and always."

The earth pony gazed at her with tears in her eyes. "I just don't want to lose you so soon after..."

Twilight put a hoof to her lips, silencing her. "I'll be well protected, Cheery. Not only will I have Spitfire and Trixie at my side, we'll be guided by one of the two or three ponies who knows this part of the forest like the back of her hoof." She gestured over to Applejack, who gave then a small smile and a nod.

Celestia wrapped a wing around the maroon mare, letting her warmth soak into her. "Trust in them, my little pony," she said in a soothing voice. "They are four very capable ponies. They will return safe and sound."

"Yes, darling. You may rely on them to come back unharmed," Rarity added, resting a hoof on the teacher's shoulder. "Even if you discount the other's abilities, Twilight is a _very_ capable pony. Why, just look at what she's faced down with no harm done to her. A few ragged creatures in a forest is surely no match for her."

"We _will_ be back. That's not a promise, Cheery; it's a fact," Twilight said with confidence that they could all feel. She gave her a quick peck on the lips and turned to go, but was brought up short when Cheerilee grabbed her and turned her around, giving her a passionate kiss that had Applejack looking away and blushing, and left Rarity breathless.

She released Twilight's lips and pushed her away. "You come back to me, Twilight Sparkle. You come back for your foal, and you come back for me."

The unicorn blushed deeply, but only nodded in reply as she turned to leave. Cheerilee buried her face in Celestia's shoulder, sobbing. "Why did it have to be her? Why couldn't she let somepony else do it?"

Celestia nuzzled the crying mare. "Because she wouldn't be Twilight Sparkle otherwise."

(\ /)

( . .)

*(")(")

The mares followed Applejack, who had taken the point position. Seeing as this was more her territory than theirs, it only made sense. "So what do you think we're dealing with here?" Spitfire asked in hushed tones.

Twilight shrugged as she walked. "The way I see it," she said in equally hushed tones, "it's one of two things. Either a pony has somehow gotten a hold of a Mare Do Well costume and is using the persona to capitalize on the preexisting fame and be a hero..."

"Or?" the pegasus prompted.

"Or, some... creature or force from the forest took on the appearance of Mare Do Well. It could be something benevolent like a restless spirit seeking redemption, or some creature with long range evil plans using the good name we built up so as to dupe ponies into trusting it for some malevolent reason." Twilight smirked at Spitfire. "However, considering the fact that Rarity said a costume _is_ missing, it all suggests the former, rather than the latter."

She sighed as she turned her sensor forward into the forest again. "However, we can't discount the extremely implausible out of hoof either." She stopped, bringing the whole group to a halt. She let her sensor rotate around her head a full three hundred sixty degrees, taking in the whole forest. "I can't describe it, but there's a sense of... unease here. Like a storm you can see just on the horizon."

"Ah feel it too, Twi," Applejack said. "S'like an Ursa sittin' on mah chest."

Twilight nodded. "Let's get going while we still have some light left, AJ. No sense in stretching this out any longer than we have to."

"Trixie cannot feel anything especially off, here. It looks like an ordinary forest to her," Trixie said.

Applejack looked over her shoulder at the showmare. "Trixie? We're not _in_ the Everfree yet."

"Oh."

Further discussion was quelled, and the continued in silence until they reached the clearing with the hill the foals had turned into a soapbox ramp. Twilight looked at the "emergency stop" at the bottom incredulously. "Oh, no. This is all wrong! If they had to use this, it would have _launched_ them instead of stopping them! Applejack, you have to let me help them with these kinds of things next time. They could have seriously hurt themselves on this!"

The farmer rolled her eyes. "Twi, I'll have a talk with them, but let's do what we came out here to do first?" She gestured at the racer, still half buried in the sinkhole.

Spitfire and Trixie grinned at her while Twilight blushed and stammered an apology. "S-sorry. Force of habit." She wandered up to the racer, examining the hole. Her lovers examined it as well while Applejack kept an eye out for trouble.

"Hey, Twilight. What do you make of this?" The pegasus poked a hoof at a twig that looked like a roughly sharpened peg.

The lavender unicorn walked over and examined it closely. "Hmm..." Her sensor glowed green before shifting back to purple. She held the peg up with her magic, getting the attention of all the ponies there. "Ladies, what we have here is a tooth from the _Ligna Canis Lupus_, or, common timberwolf. Second lower molar on the right side, I believe."

Applejack sniffed it and recoiled. "Eeyup. That came from a timberwolf's mouth alright. Nothin' else smells quite like it."

"Look at this!" Trixie exclaimed. The others gathered around her, taking note of a patch of purple cloth.

Twilight's sensor glowed blue before returning to it's normal purple again. "This is definitely my missing costume."

Applejack arched an eyebrow at her. "How can yah tell it's from yours? T'aint like it's got a tag on it or anythin'."

Presenting the cloth to her, she proudly said, "It's got my magical imprint on it. When I used my magic to repair the dam, I used a lot of magical energy. There's a magical residue left on it called an imprint. That's why weapons used by unicorns are so easy to identify, even if they don't leave hoofprints on them." She put a hoof to her chin in thought. "There's no other imprint left on it though. Either the pony who took the costume didn't use magic, or she wasn't a unicorn."

"But did a ghost take it?" Trixie asked.

The librarian shook her head. "No ectoplasmic residue, so, no. No ghosts." Her sensor glowed yellow this time, followed by red and pink before returning to its normal purple. "No psychic imprint, no hairs or skin cells, no pheromones, nothing! It's like the pony who wore this doesn't exist!"

Spitfire and Trixie standing behind Twilight and Applejack looked to each other nervously before resuming carefully neutral expressions. The farmer looked towards the setting sun worriedly. "We'd best head back now, Twi. We don' wanna be caught this close to the Everfree at night. 'Specially if timberwolves are coming out here in the _day_. No tellin' what might crawl out at _night_."

A wolf-like howl caught their attention, and they looked towards deep into the forest. "I suppose we'd better," Twilight agreed reluctantly. As they walked back, she added, "I'm just glad Nightmare Night is so far away. It'll give us time to solve this before we have to cancel _that_... if the mayor agrees to it, anyway," she said sardonically.

(\ /)

( . .)

*(")(")

Much to Twilight's delighted surprise, it turned out that the mayor's truculence was all for naught. Celestia had called her over to the library for a conference, along with the librarian. "We both understand the importance that tradition plays; especially in small towns such as this," the Princess said in a kind, motherly tone. "However, there are times when adherence to those traditions can become a hindrance; even to the point of endangering public safety."

"I'm not asking you to change your cultural customs on a whim, Mayor," Twilight added. "I know as well as anypony how hard it can be to change something that you've been doing for years. All I'm asking for is for you to take my advice a little more seriously. That rock shelf was a perfect example; somepony could have been hurt if it collapsed like I told you it would. That being said, until we find what's going on and whether or not it poses a danger to the public, we may have to seriously consider delaying, or even canceling outright the Nightmare Night celebration."

The door to the library slammed open revealing a shadowy silhouette standing tall, with white, glowing eyes glaring down at the ponies seated around the table. **_NEIGH!_**** THOU VILLAINS MOST FOUL SHALT NOT HALT OUR CELEBRATION!** The power behind the voice was enough to send Twilight and the Mayor flying into a bookshelf where they slid down, the Mayor upright, and Twilight upside down.

_So much for the cool, calm, and collected approach,_ Twilight thought to herself.

Celestia, who had not so much as a hair out of place despite the carnage wreaked around her said, "Luna, would you like to voice your opinion on the matter?"

The moon mare glared daggers at her fellow diarch. "Sister, how couldst thou become party to such skullduggery as this? And Twilight! We art surprised at thee! We thought thou a friend to us. And wouldst somepony not think of the foals?"

Twilight righted herself and walked calmly back to the table, trying her best to ignore the books knocked loose from their places on the shelves. "Princess, we _are_ trying to think of them. How would you feel if any of them were harmed through an incident which was easily preventable by canceling an event?" Luna had the good sense to look chastened, but the librarian wasn't through yet. "Sure, they may be disappointed by the cancellation, but at least they'll be _alive_ to look forward to next year."

"And in any case, we aren't saying that it even _will_ be canceled, Sister," Celestia cut in, "just that we need to prepare for the eventuality of it."

The Mayor adjusted her glasses as she resumed her seat, after bowing to the newly arrived Princess. "It's just a shame we couldn't _move_ the celebration, rather than lose it altogether."

Luna's face lit up like a Hearth's Warming tree. "A most excellent suggestion, good yeoman!" She looked to her sister with glee. " 'Tia! _We_ couldst host a Nightmare Night celebration for the foals at the palace!"

Putting a hoof to her chin in thought, Celestia pondered this. "Hmm... it _has_ been a while since the last time a foal's laughter was heard in the halls of the palace," she said with a grin and a pointed look towards Twilight.

Twilight blushed a little, but returned the smile to the alicorn. "That's a wonderful idea, Princess Luna, but will the palace security agree to it?"

"Tish Tosh. Thou doth forget just who rules whom," Luna replied. "If it pleases us to decree a celebration to be held at the palace, then it shall be so! Zounds, this will be delightful!" She clapped her hooves together in glee.

Just then, a yellow blur streaked in through the still open door, and Fluttershy attached herself to Luna's side like a limpet, tears in her eyes. "Luna, please don't hurt them! I'm sure they have a good reason for doing it, whatever it is!"

Luna Swept her up in a hug, beaming at her. "Oh, frabjous day! The best news possible, Dear Fluttershy! Nightmare Night shall be held at the Palace this year!"

Her face turning red, Fluttershy gasped out, "That's great, Luna; but I... can't... breathe..."

Just as the pegasus's face was turning purple, Luna released her grip. "Oh! Our apologies, Fluttershy! Art thou well? Dost thou require a doctor?"

Fluttershy waved her off. "Oh, um, it's alright, Luna. But, um, the palace? Isn't that a bit far for the foals? Even if you make it an all day affair? Won't the poor little dears get tired from the trip?"

Celestia smiled at her. "Not if we have Twilight and the Mayor here work out a transportation plan. I have every confidence that between them, they'll be able to put together a plan that will satisfy everypony."

The Princess's protege puffed up her chest proudly and beamed at her. "Thank you Princess! I won't let you down."

Leaning down to nuzzle the mare, she said, "I know you won't, Twilight."

(\ /)

( . .)

*(")(")

That night found Celestia lying awake and staring out the window at Luna's moon as it shined its light into the room, giving her a pale, unearthly glow. A murmur along with movement at her side caused her to lift her wing and look down at the pony pile curled up next to her. Twilight was of course, nestled up to her, with the others arrayed around her, each one touching the others in some way.

The alicorn smiled down at them, and nuzzled the librarian again, giving her a small peck on the forehead. Her smile turned wistful as she pulled away. _I wonder how much longer she'll treat me this way? Will she always see me as a benevolent mother figure?_ She sighed quietly and caressed the mare with a wingtip. The action brought out a smile on Twilight's face and she murmured again. Celestia strained to hear, and almost wished she hadn't when she made out the words "...love you, Celly..."

A tear rolled down her cheek as she repositioned her wing to once more cover the ponies from the night's chill.

_"Why dost thou torment thyself so, sister?"_

Celestia flinched internally at the sound of her sister's voice before she realized it was in her head. _"I could ask the same of you, Lulu. I almost thought you were going to kiss Fluttershy tonight."_ The alicorn's view of the world blurred as she transitioned directly to the formless dream world where a blushing Luna awaited her.

"Ahem. Yes, well... thou does thyself and thy faithful student a disservice with such melancholic thoughts," the alicorn of the night said. "We discovered long ago that such was our fate. 'Till all are one."

" 'Till all are one," Celestia whispered. "I cannot help it Luna. She's just so..."

Luna placed a comforting hoof on her shoulder, then drew her into a hug. "We know. We feel it every time we gaze at any of them, but most strongly with Fluttershy."

"She's just so..." The alabaster mare sobbed into her sister's shoulder, before pulling away and wiping her nose with a hoof. "But enough of what cannot be. I presume you have felt the perturbation as well?"

" 'Tia, thou canst not just hope to bury thyself in work when-" Luna stopped when she saw that her sister wasn't listening, and sighed. "Very well. Yes, we hath felt it as well. Verily, we wouldst have to _work_ at not noticing this foul stench that permeates the aether."

Celestia frowned at Luna. Then you can identify it? Without a doubt?"

Luna shuddered. "By Gar, we _lived_ with it for over a millennium! How couldst we _not_ know its leprous stain?"

"Then you can track it down."

"Neigh. We wish that we couldst, but..." Luna lowered her head and closed her eyes.

"What is it, Lulu?" Celestia asked, her voice full of concern.

She sighed in helplessness. "Verily, it hath hidden itself from my ken. Not e'en the shadows speak of it."

"Then we are back at square one," Celestia sighed.

"Indeed." Luna pawed at what passed for the ground here as she collected her thoughts. " 'Tia," she began, but was cut off by Celestia raising a hoof to quell her words.

"Don't even say it, Luna. I won't hear it. She deserves what she has." A tear rolled down her cheek again as she turned away from her sister. "She deserves better than me."

(\ /)

( . .)

*(")(")

Trixie awoke to sudden movement. Blearily scanning her surroundings, she saw a large white blur near the glass doors leading out to Twilight's upper deck. Rubbing her eyes, she refocused to see Celestia standing before the doors, a look of intense concentration on her face. The sky took on a slight greenish tinge as the unicorn quietly got up and wandered over to the Princess. She looked out at the horizon, and noticed the clouds gaining a silvery quality on their bottoms.

Celestia looked down at the showmare. "Good morning, Trixie," she whispered.

Stifling a yawn, Trixie replied, "Good morning, Your Highness." She let the moment of silence linger before asking, "Will you be staying for Trixie's show today?"

"You're putting on a show, Trixie?" Celestia asked.

Nodding, she said, "Yes, just a little one for the foals. It's free admission. Trixie's hoping that it will go a long way to saying 'Trixie is sorry' to the townsponies."

Celestia smiled at her gently. "It's a lovely gesture. I'm sure the foals will love it, and I'd be delighted to attend."

The showmare gave her a little bow. "Thank you, Your Highness. I look forward to performing." A worried expression crossed her face momentarily. "Trixie just has to find out where she can get some potassium chlorate this quickly." she muttered mostly to herself.

"You still use flash powder instead of making an illusion of it?" the alicorn asked her.

Trixie nodded. "Yes, for many reasons. Firstly, there's an art to properly using flash powder, one that Trixie does not want to see disappear completely. Secondly, it's easier to use a mundane source rather than tie up my magic with something like this. Thirdly, when it comes to certain things, illusions are a poor substitute. But mostly, it's because not everypony can be as talented as the _truly_ great and powerful Twilight Sparkle."

She sighed as she looked back to the sleeping mare who had become the center of her life. "Don't get Trixie wrong, she loves her truly, madly, and deeply; but standing next to her is like the morning star rising with the sun; still there, yet all but invisible next to the sun's brightness."

Celestia lay down on her belly, bringing her eye-level with the unicorn. "I'm reminded of another pony who once said words similar to those to me. 'But Princess! How could I ever outshine you? You're so good, so beautiful, so powerful, so... perfect. I could never hope to have my name even be uttered in the same sentence as yours, let alone compete with you!' But she was wrong. And now, I think she shines even brighter than the noonday sun," she finished with a beatific smile.

Trixie sat on her rump as she considered this. Turning her gaze to the alicorn's eyes, she said, "You're talking about Twilight, aren't you?"

"Am I that transparent?" Celestia asked her smile turning wry.

The azure mare's expression became carefully neutral, but to the alicorn, her face was an open book of concern and worry. "There's a certain... light in your eyes whenever you talk about her; a lilt in your voice that is absent when talking about anypony else. Your whole demeanor changes."

Celestia sat quietly for a moment before responding. "And you're worried I might try to 'steal her from you'?" She laid a hoof over Trixie's, causing the smaller mare to look towards her. "Allow me to be perfectly clear, Trixie. I hold no romantic feelings towards Twilight. Do I love her? Of course I do. To know her _is_ to love her, but not in that way."

"Now I just have to worry about the other two, then," Trixie muttered. "Not to mention the multitudes that she seems to attract unawares."

Gently rubbing her hoof across Trixie's, Celestia replied, "Oh, my little pony. You have nothing to fear. Twilight loves you just as much as you love her."

Trixie's teary eyes turned to the diarch. "Then why can't she love me exclusively like I do her?" she practically moaned.

"Do you?"

"Huh?" Celestia's question caught her off guard.

"Do you love her exclusively?" she elaborated. "It may be senility catching up with me, but I've seen you look to Spitfire and Cheerilee with the same affection you hold for my faithful student." The showmare's jaw dropped as she tried to form some sort of defense, but the alicorn was giving no quarter. "Why, just last night, I saw you and Cheerilee huddled in a corner, thick as thieves. No doubt, you were planning some shenanigans to inflict on poor Twilight, or Spitfire, or even both, once I've gone back to the palace." A blush overcame the azure mare, turning her cheeks a deep maroon. "And I've noticed you licking your lips a time or two while watching Spitfire walk. So I'm going to have to call you out when you say that you love Twilight exclusively. You may love her more than the other two right now, but you _do_ still love them."

Celestia patted the speechless mare's hoof and rose, stretching her legs as she did. "I hope you'll excuse me, but there's a few matters I need to discuss with my guards." And with that, she leapt off the balcony and into the crisp autumn air, and with a couple powerful flaps of her wings, landed next to two guards at the door to the library.

Immediately, the two unicorns saluted her. "Your Highness," said the taller one.

She nodded in reply, allowing him to lower his foreleg. "Lieutenant. Have you seen Plain Sight?"

The guard nodded. "Around back waiting to report to you, Ma'am."

Another nod and the Princess was on her way. "Thank you, Lieutenant." She answered, pronouncing it "left-tenant", and trotted around to the back of the library where the gray earth pony sat, counting the fast disappearing stars.

She rose and bowed removing her hat when the Princess rounded the corner. "Your Highness," she said. Rising without being bidden, she started into her report. "Our friend in the forest says by the prickling in her gums, something wicked this way comes."

"Did she now?" Celestia asked with a grin.

Plain Sight had the good sense to look chagrined. "Well, I may have paraphrased, but that was the gist of it." She sat down and scratched one foreleg with the other. "The strange thing is, that's _all_ she could tell us. Her feelings were way too vague to pinpoint a source."

"And the timberwolves?"

Plain Sight sighed as she tried to formulate a response. "That one has me puzzled too. They aren't acting at all like your average timberwolf. They followed me through the woods, but broke off the chase not long after starting it. There were no other creatures fearsome enough to scare them off where I lost them, they just... lost interest. Moreover, they were _far_ outside their territory when the chase began. If I had to venture a guess, I'd almost say that they were called off."

Standing stock still, Celestia mulled this information over in her mind as she gazed out into the sunrise. "And what did Nyx have to say?"

"Before I answer that," the earth pony said guardedly, "I need to ask you something. You don't have to answer, but knowing this would help put things into perspective better, and might aid me in helping you." The Princess's face was serious as she nodded her assent. Plain Sight took a deep breath before asking, "Is she as powerful as you and Princess Luna say?"

Celestia silently nodded again, causing a worried frown to cross the gray mare's face. "Then we are in the latrine up to our eyebrows, Your Highness. Miss Nyx couldn't discern the identity of whatever's pulling the strings, and her assistant seemed to think that gathering information is her specialty." Her hoof visibly shook as she brought it up to adjust her flatcap. "If someone _that_ powerful is being stymied by an unknown force..."

"Princess Luna and I believe we may know just what is behind these mysterious circumstances," Celestia interrupted. "The problem with countering this... entity lies in not tipping our hoof too soon." She silently considered for a moment before saying, "I'm assigning a squad of special knights to patrol the area. They'll be incognito, so feel free to interact with them at need. They shall be independent of you, but you may consider their commander of equal rank to you."

Eyes wide, Plain Sight carefully considered the meaning of this information. "Understood," she said with a nod. She stood with a groan and stretched her legs. "I better get going. I need to check in with one of my ponies and see if he's done repairing the costume I borrowed from Miss Rarity."

"The ones you ordered from the royal seamstress haven't arrived yet?" Celestia asked.

Plain Sight smiled as she shook her head. "No. I guess they're taking their sweet time about it. I _am_ pretty low on the totem pole for requisitions; at least, from them I am."

Celestia nodded and stood as well. "I'll see what I can do to expedite your order. I'll let you be about your business, then. Good luck, soldier."

"Luck?" Plain Sight replied with a smirk and a chuckle. "Luck is for wusses who can't work without nets."

(\ /)

( . .)

*(")(")

"Trixie, you get back here with my towel this instant!" A soaking wet Spitfire dove for the purloined cloth.

The showmare held it in her telekinetic grip just out of the pegasus's reach. "Ah, ah, ah. You didn't say the magic word!" Her grin threatened to take over her whole head, and her rump wriggled, sending waves down her tail.

Spitfire growled as she made another fruitless dive for it. "Like _hay_ will I ask nicely for something you _stole_ from me!"

Sighing with frustration, Twilight looked up from her book on the couch. "Just give it back to her, Trixie. She's dripping all over my floor. What if she gets the books wet?"

Trixie danced away from another attempt at the towel. "Not until she uses the manners Trixie knows she has. Besides," She leered at the wet mare, dripping onto the wood floor. "How can you _not_ enjoy this view?"

_I have to admit, she _does _have a point. Seeing her with that slicked down mane, water beading up on her coat, powerful wings glistening in the sunlight, chest... heaving... from exertion..._ A familiar warmth took hold of the librarian's lower extremities, spreading throughout her body, culminating in a flushed look on her face. She unconsciously licked her lips and her forehooves fidgeted as she took in the wet, naked athlete before her. _My stars, she's like an ancient Roaman warrior. Beautiful... deadly... and mine._ Her blush became deeper at this last thought, suddenly ashamed of her possessiveness.

Sitting next to her on the couch, Cheerilee whispered into her ear, "It's okay to want her. Hay, looking like that, _I_ want her, too." Twilight gave no response, only turned her attention back to her book.

It was to this scene in which the Princess walked. Everypony froze with wide eyes except Spitfire, who snatched her towel away from Trixie, and ran back to the first floor bathroom. Spike walked out of the kitchen, pink frilly apron proclaiming "fire the cook" with little flames around it, and spatula in one paw. "Pancakes are ready-" He gazed at the frozen tableau, and turned around back to the kitchen. "I don't even _want_ to know."


	7. Chapter 7

**I WOULD DO ANYTHING FOR LOVE**

* * *

Chapter 7: Carnival

* * *

As the poster was applied to the store's window, the hanger stood back to admire the workponyship of the advertisement. "Come one, come all!" it proclaimed on the top. The main body of the poster was taken up with a painting of a unicorn facing down an enormous bear made of stars with her magic, while ponies looked on in awe. Below that were the words, "Join the Great and Powerful Trixie for an afternoon of stories, magic, and entertainment. Today only in Ponyville park at 3:00pm." In smaller words below that, it read, "Admission is free, complimentary balloon animals for foals, refreshments available for purchase. Bring your enthusiasm, but leave your expectations at home."

Twilight quirked an eyebrow at it. "Where in Equestria did you have this made?"

Trixie cocked her head to the side and smirked at her. "Impressed? Trixie has her ways."

"I'm more impressed that you were able to get my likeness without me posing or a picture," Twilight replied. "And since when do I wear archmage robes?"

Trotting to the next store, she paused at the door. "Your likeness is easier to get than you might realize, my dear." She waited for her marefriend to catch up to her, then said, "Besides, you can't very well face down an Ursa without _looking_ the part."

The showmare walked up to a brown stallion in a showroom full of sofas, and cleared her throat. "Excuse Trixie, but she would like to know if she may put up a poster in your window." She held up one of the advertisements in her magic. "As you can see, it's for the enjoyment of the foals, and no one is charged; so, may she?"

The stallion cleared his throat and glared down at his muzzle at her. Before either of them could speak, Twilight said, "Hello, Mr. Davenport."

Surprised, he shook his head as he looked to the lavender unicorn. "Miss Twilight! My favorite customer! What can I do for you today? Here to pick up another gross of quills?"

Nodding towards the mare next to her, she replied, "Actually, my marefriend here is putting on a free show for the foals, and needs to advertise it. Would it be okay?" She put on her best cute face, though the effect was somewhat ruined by the blindfold and magical sensor.

"Er, uh, I... suppose?" he stammered.

"Great!" Twilight chirped. "Thanks Mr. Davenport. Oh! While I'm here, could I have a gross of quills? I ran out again last night. Had a whole slew of forms to fill out this past couple of weeks." She grinned sheepishly at him.

Davenport smiled at her. "Sure. Shall I put it on your tab?"

Twilight summoned a money pouch from nowhere with her magic, extracting a hoofful of coins. "No, it's alright. I got it this time. Could you have them delivered to the library though? I have a lot of other stops to make today."

Nodding, the stallion said, "They'll be there by the close of today."

"Thanks," Twilight called over her shoulder as she led Trixie back out.

"Trixie knows what you are doing, and while she appreciates the gesture, she also need to do this on her own." The azure unicorn shot her a mild glare.

Twilight's sensor swiveled around as she grinned nervously. "I-I-I-I don't know what you're talking about. I'm not doing anything, really!"

Smiling as she got face-to-face with her, she said, "Trixie has noticed that you let your participles dangle when you lie. You can't help it." She kissed Twilight's nose and took a step back. "Truly, Trixie appreciates your assistance, but she must face these ponies without you to hold her hoof if she is to live amongst them." Her eyes went half-lidded and she cocked her hips to the side. "Now if you wish to hold Trixie's hoof later..."

Chuckling, Twilight conceded. "Alright, alright. I'll let you get on with making amends and advertising. But at least let me hang some of these up on my way," She took half the stack of posters from Trixie, putting them in her saddlebags. "I still need to talk to Pinkie-Pie and Applejack, and just seeing those two will take me past half the town."

"Alright, but you leave the shops to Trixie. If there's one thing she knows, it's how to deal with shop owners." The showmare gave her a little telekinetic smack on the rear. "Now, Scoot. We both have lots to do before this afternoon."

Twilight yelped a little, but smiled as she parted ways with her. "You kinky little thing," she muttered with a chuckle as she walked away.

(\ /)

( . .)

*(")(")

Two ponies stood in front of one of Trixie's posters. "Do you think we'll be able to attend, News Flash?" the forest green pegasus with a brown mane and tail asked his partner.

"Now, why wouldn' we be allowed in? It's free an' open to the public, in'nit?" A cream colored unicorn with a pink and aquamarine striped mane and tail asked with a strong twang. " 'Sides," she added, "s'bein held in the park, an' that's open to ever'pony. Cain't rightly keep us out, now can they?"

"But you heard what happened to Ink Smudge," the pegasus continued. "Not to mention Byline, Op-Ed, Typo, and Deadline."

"Buried Lead, this's why yah've yet to advance beyond field reporter in the last twenny years," News Flash replied. "If'n you ain't gonna take the chances, you ain't gonna go nowheres." She walked off, saying "Now, c'mon. We gotta set up if'n we want good seats to take pictures." She looked back at the nervous pegasus with a smirk. "Or are you gonna s'plain to your boss jus' why Ah managed to get some pics when you couldn', an' we was at the same event?"

The pegasus sighed as he brought out his camera and flapped after News Flash. "I've got a baaad feeling about this."

(\ /)

( . .)

*(")(")

"What do you mean, 'the park's been booked'? Who would have booked an entire park in _this_ backwater, podunk excuse for a hick town?"

"Sorry Freaky, but that's what the mayor's assistant said," answered a small dark blue stallion. "She said to try again in a few days. Besides," he added, "you've been to this town before, so you know that park isn't _that_ big. Booking the whole thing for a function is entirely plausible."

"Well _there's_ your problem!" shouted Freaky McFreakerson, owner and ringmaster of the McFreakerson Freakytown Freak Show. "Who told you to stop at the mayor's _assistant_? You keep going until you reach Princess Celestia if you have to! And I don't _care_ how big the park is, we _need_ that space! Now go back in there and get us that performance permit, and you don't come back out until you've got it! IS THAT UNDERSTOOD?" she shouted at the top of her prodigious lungs.

The stallion ran from the much larger, strawberry roan earth pony mare with his tail tucked between his legs. She bucked the wheel of the manticore's cage behind her so hard, she set it to rocking. This, quite naturally, upset the manticore that had been dozing in the cage, causing the creature to give a mighty roar that echoed throughout the forested hills that surrounded the road. "Ah, shaddup!" Freaky shouted at the monster, who quieted down, though still growled low. She began pacing back and forth in front of her wagon train as she often did when things were going badly. "Bucking hay! What's the use of hiring a PR pony if he doesn't do his bucking job?"

A wizened old griffon draped in a cloak that hid her face sauntered over to her. "He's hung like a dragon and keeps you satisfied?" she ventured in a raspy voice.

"And don't you be thinking you can steal him away from me, either! Public Face is all mine, you hear me, Aura?" To an outsider, Freaky's voice would be full of venom, but to Aura, there was nothing but affection.

The graying griffon smiled at her, the only part of her face visible from under the hood she wore. "The way you treat that poor boy, I think he'd handle the tender mercies of a griffoness quite well. You know how much we like to scratch." She flexed a foreclaw at her for emphasis.

Freaky shook her head with a chuckle. "Handle it or not, _neither_ of you would survive my finding out. But enough girl talk. How's the caravan set for supplies?"

"If we go on short rations, we can last a week, maybe longer. The way we've been putting it away? Less than three days," the crone replied. "They're getting restless, though. They can smell the apple orchard from here."

Nodding, the mare looked towards the town settled just down the road and to the orchard just beyond it. "I'm not surprised. I've been smelling it myself since last night; and we're _all_ sick of trail rations by now." She sighed as she looked back down the trail to the largest wagon in the caravan. "What I'm _really_ worried about is that baby hydra. You sure that friend of yours can keep it tame around ponies? I mean, around us is one thing; we're used to things like that, but civies?"

Aura shrugged in reply. "She says that she can, but Leather Lash herself is a bit of a loose cannon. Too much of a thrill seeker, even for _my_ liking."

"I wish you'd use your future sight for _us_ sometimes. It'd be nice to have warning now and then," Freaky said.

Sighing tiredly, Aura replied, "I've said it before, and I'll say it again: true prognostication is sparse and intermittent. Reading fortunes for the public may pay the bills, but it's mostly guesswork combined with observation." She gestured to the sky before pulling back her claw in arthritic pain. "I have as much chance of predicting the weather on my own or what stocks to buy as I do future events."

"Except, you know, when you _do_ it."

"Yes, except then."

Freaky sighed as she set aside the old argument. They stood for a moment in silence, then she stamped her hoof in frustration. "Oh, _buck_ this! I'm going to go see what the holdup is. Can you keep these miscreants in line, Aura?"

Aura nodded once. "Of course. They know better than to go against 'Granny Griffon'. I'd feed them to the hydra or something."

"Good. I'll be back as soon as I can. Try to keep them from burning down the forest, okay?" As Freaky trotted down the road at a good clip, she worked over some worries that had been weighing heavy on her mind lately. _Oh, Celestia,_ please _don't let this one fall through too. As it is, we're searching the sofas for bits. Losing_ this _one could ruin us._

(\ /)

( . .)

*(")(")

"Come on, High Hide. Keep it together." the sky blue pegasus mumbled to himself. "She's not going to bite your head off for bringing her bad news." The soldier, fresh from the academy, took a deep breath, ran a hoof through his white mane, and knocked twice, then once more on the backdoor of the furniture/stationary shop and waited.

It didn't take long before he heard a quiet buzzer ring, and he entered a smallish office with no other entrance. Filing cabinets lined the walls that reached the ceiling except for one small corner where a desk sat. Behind the desk, his immediate superior sat, filling out a report. "What is it, High Hide" Plain Sight asked without looking up.

"Um..."

Plain Sight sighed as she dropped her pen and put her face in her hooves. She had found that it was never good when her subordinates came to her hesitantly.

The colt licked his suddenly dry lips. "Er, this just came in. Minuette thought you might want to see this right away." He placed a file onto her desk.

The mare looked at the blank file folder as if it were a pile of half chewed oats. With a noise of disgust, she gestured for him to take a seat in the only other chair in the room and sat back to read the field report. When finished reading the brief file, she set on the desk next to four others and gestured to them all. "Do you know what these are, High Hide?"

"R-reports, Ma'am?" he ventured.

She cocked her head at the colt and smiled the kind of smile that set him to sweating. "You would _think_ that, wouldn't you? I mean, they _look_ like reports. They _tell_ you things the way reports do. They even send my blood pressure skyrocketing like reports often do, but you'd be wrong. They're not reports."

A moment of silence filled the office with it's oppressive air before the colt couldn't take it anymore. "W-w-what are they, Ma'am?"

"These," she replied with a wave of her hoof and a disgusted grimace on her face, "are the ingredients of one of the biggest horseapplestorms you are likely to see in your young career, _if_ you're lucky." She pointed to the first file, saying, "Not only do we have that business going on in the Everfree, but this one tells me that hot little vixen, Trixie, is holding an impromptu show for the kiddies today, after filing for the permit _this morning_. As she is one of the delicious Twilight Sparkle's main squeezes, her request was quite naturally rushed through approval."

"This one," she pointed to another file, "tells me that Pinkie-Pie, adorable paperwork-making font of trouble that she is, is planning a surprise party, if not today, then soon; celebrating Twilight's getting together with her little herd, _and_ baby shower for their first foal. _How_ she found out that Cheerilee is pregnant is still a mystery to me."

Pointing to a third file, she continued, "This one tells me that a traveling carnival-slash-freak show-slash-menagerie-slash-_whatever_ is currently trying to get a permit to book the park for the same day as the show, namely today." She sighed as she looked to the ceiling as if appealing to the heavens for help. "Our newest civilian collaborator, Amethyst Star, may be eager to help her friend Twilight, but she's still too green to be able to hold them off. Odds are good that they _will_ get that permit."

Gesturing to a fourth file, she said, "This one was my favorite up until a few minutes ago. It states that the Griffo-Minotauren Hegemony has informed us that a militant group seeking reparations from Equestria for the last war, and have originated from their nations is going to try to kidnap either one of the Princesses, or somepony close to them. Guess who tops the list of targets _after_ the Princesses?" she asked with a rictus grin. "Go on, ask."

"Er..."

"And now," Plain Sight interrupted, "You come bearing even _more_ spectacular news!" She threw her hooves up in the air in mock celebration. "Because the Hoofington weather team decided that they simply _must_ have a storm _this very instant_, the dragons returning from their migration have been diverted _right THROUGH __**PONYVILLE!"**_ She had stood from her chair and leaned over the desk until she was eye-to-eye with the poor frightened colt.

The manic gleam in her eye and heavy breathing had High Hide sweating bullets and looking longingly towards the only exit in the room. "Uh..."

Plain Sight plopped down into her chair and picked up a rubber stress ball in her forehooves from her desk, and began to quickly squish it between them, causing it to squeak with each flex. This went on for far longer than High Hide found to be comfortable, but he kept still so as to not draw her attention; not when her face wore _that_ expression of rage. When she finally exhausted her anger, she let the ball fall to the desk, where it lay smoking; while she reclined back in her chair.

Running a hoof through her disheveled mane in an attempt to tame it, the gray mare pulled a brass rod out from a drawer in her desk and ran it over the closed files, magically producing another of each. She hoofed over the copies to her frightened subordinate, saying, "Deliver these to Princess Celestia. They are 'her eyes only', understand?" The colt nodded in response. "If she isn't available, then Princess Luna is to receive them. Nopony else. Stick around while she reads them, then return here with her orders."

High Hide saluted and turned to leave, but was stopped by Plain Sight saying, "Oh, and tell Minuette that if delivering the reports she's supposed to do is interfering with her cover work, then I can find a _new_ cover position for her like say, sewer worker." The sky blue colt smiled as he saluted this time before leaving on his mission.

(\ /)

( . .)

*(")(")

"Because I _know_ you, Pinkie, _that's_ how I know," Twilight said firmly. She looked over to Rainbow Dash who sat in one of the chairs provided for Sugarcube Corner's customers reading a newspaper upside-down; but got no help from that corner. "I know you've got some sort of party in mind since the 'After-Marathon Celebration' was canceled. All I'm asking is that you hold off whatever it is you've got planned for another day or two. Things are way too hectic right now to really unwind and enjoy one of your parties."

The pink party planner rubbed her head under the crook of Twilight's neck. "Aw, you silly filly. Parties is what I do! If not me, then who? If not now, then when?"

Twilight pushed the mare away in an attempt to restore personal space. "Can't you just throw a mini-party for you and Rainbow to hold you over?"

"How do you think I've held on _this_ long?" Pinkie-Pie looked up at her with watery eyes and a quivering lip. "Pretty please, Twilight? I really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, REALLY need to throw a big bash! Really! If I don't, I'm gonna explode! Maybe even twice!"

Throwing her a triumphant glance, Twilight exclaimed, "Ah, ha! I _knew_ you had a party for me planned!"

Pinkie looked at her in astonishment, then narrowed her eyes. "Oh, _you're_ gooood."

"My deductive capabilities not withstanding, this is really a bad time for a big bash, Pinkie," Twilight said. Her sensor looked again to Dash who just put her paper shield up again when she was caught peeking. "Trixie is in a delicate place right now. She's trying to make up with the townsponies, and they aren't exactly making it easy for her. She's _still_ getting dirty looks from some of them, and I doubt she'll ever be totally accepted here. Moreover, there have been... developments in our relationship that might have upset her, which she has yet to admit."

Pinkie-Pie sidled up to the librarian until they were cheek-to-cheek. "Ooo, what sort of _developments_?"

Pushing the earth pony to a more acceptable distance once again, Twilight replied, "Never you mind. Can we just delay this party a few days? Please?" The unicorn tried to give her the wide, watery eyes treatment, but again the blindfold mitigated the effect.

Sighing dejectedly, the party planner nodded her acquiescence. "Okay..." she moped.

Twilight hugged her friend tightly. "Thanks Pinkie. Think of it this way," she added, "now you get to plan something _really_ special."

Pinkie-Pie straightened up happily. "Hey, you're right! Sorry, Twilight, but I don't have time to talk right now, I've got a surprise party to plan!" With that, she ran up to her room.

Looking towards Rainbow Dash, Twilight gestured questioningly. Dash simply replied with a shrug.

(\ /)

( . .)

*(")(")

Freaky led Public Face out of the town hall, a grin plastered on her face. "You see? _That's_ how you deal with red tape, Pub. Don't let them give you the runaround; _make_ them work with you." The roan mare seemed to be in much higher spirits than just an hour ago, much to Public Face's relief, who grinned up at the larger mare.

"Now, go run back to the caravan, and tell them to come on in, and make a parade of it." She pointed towards the other end of town where the park was situated. "I'll be down at the park, talking to this 'Trixie' mare. Hopefully, we can work together, or something." She watched the small stallion run off down the road until he disappeared around a corner. _What kind of name is "Trixie" anyway? Who names their filly something so... odd?_

The very large mare moseyed through town, taking in the sights of the small hamlet. She walked past the market where she saw the familiar Big Mac tending to his stall, and waved to him as she passed, and he waved to her in return. _Better remember to talk to him or his sister tomorrow about replenishing our supplies._ Her traveling show had been dealing with the apples ever since they added Ponyville to their list of stops twenty-two years ago.

Arriving at the park, Freaky noted the small changes that had occurred since the last time she had been here. New benches, trees grown larger, and a small dock with a rowboat now decorated the lake. Near this new dock is where she found her current impediment, a traveling showcart not unlike several in her own caravan. The earth pony noted the craftsponyship of the wagon as she approached, and nodded approvingly. _Somepony really knew their stuff when they put this thing together._

"Can Trixie help you?"

The voice startled Freaky, who looked around, spotting a blue unicorn mare walking around from behind the cart. "Are you Trixie Lulamoon?" the towering earth pony asked.

Trixie laid a forehoof on her chest. "You have the honor of addressing she. Is there something you wanted to see Trixie about?"

"The name's Freaky McFreakerson, owner of the McFreakerson Freakytown Freak Show," she began. "I had this park booked for a show, but found out that you had the place reserved ahead of me. The mayor's office said that if you didn't object, we could set up next to you; so I've come to ask you about it."

Putting a hoof to her chin, Trixie considered the matter. _Twilight was saying that being kinder to my fellow pony would get me farther than rudeness. Let's see what she's offering._ "Trixie is hesitant without knowing what sort of show you put on. Our styles might clash too much for us to peacefully coexist."

Freaky brought out a poster from her saddlebags, unrolling it with a flourish. "As you can see, we offer family-friendly entertainment at great value. Is there anything about that that might 'clash'?" she asked with a hopeful grin.

"Do you set off fireworks? Have loud, flashy entertainment that might distract from my own show?" Trixie returned.

The roan mare nodded. "We do, but can hold off on that until yours is over. It's from three to five, right?" Trixie nodded at her. "That's fine. We don't even set off the fireworks until after dark anyways, and the cannon needs to be acclimatized before we can shoot anypony out of it."

"Then, no, Trixie has no problem with you 'setting up next to her'," she replied with a smile. "Perhaps we could even offer a small exchange of goods? The Great and Powerful Trixie is running low on potassium chlorate, and this town is woefully lacking, charming though it is. Would you happen to have any to spare?"

Immediately, Freaky started warming up to her. "Making your own flash powder, eh? We actually have plenty to spare ever since our stage magician retired to New Mareland last year. We can set you up with some," she said with a smile.

Trixie smiled back. "What was your magician's name? Trixie may have heard of him. We're a rather small community these days."

"Ever heard of the Great Presto-Change-O?" the ringmaster asked.

"_Heard_ of him?" Trixie shrieked, "he's how I got my cutie mark!" She proudly showed her flank, displaying the wand and field of stars.

Freaky grinned at the showmare. "Small world, isn't it?"

Trixie's horn glowed, opening the door to her wagon. "Please, won't you come inside? Trixie simply _must_ hear how he's been since she saw him last. Would you like some tea?"

As Freaky followed her in, she shook her head. _Unicorns and their tea..._

(\ /)

( . .)

*(")(")

Ava clawed up the ground before her restlessly. _How long is that idiot going to take? He better not have gotten caught/._ Even though griffons were an uncommon sight in this part of Equestria, that alone could not account for her unease. No, that could only come from _why_ she and her small team were here. The snapping of a twig caused her to spring from the bushes in which she had hid, and whirl around to face the oncoming threat. She saw the cloaked Brute Strength, the stealth component of her team dropping the two halves of a twig to the ground. "It took you long enough. Report!"

Brute Strength glared down at her. "I remind you Ava, that we are _equal_ partners in this endeavor. You do _not_ get to order me around like I was one of your cubs. You would do well to remember that."

"Oh, quit your posturing and get on with it," the griffon replied with an eye roll.

The two stood there glaring at each other for many minutes until a muffled gasp caught their attention. Brute Strength rolled his eyes while Ava faceclawed. She went over to the bush from which the sound emanated and picked it up, revealing a young griffoness and minotaur couple locked in a heated embrace. They looked up at her sheepishly, lips still locked on beak. "You two are enough to drive a bird insane. Silva, go check the perimeter. Great Fortitude, go... just go." she dismissed the youngsters. "Not after her!" she said when the minotaur made to follow the griffon. She looked to Brute, grumpily asking, "Was it _really_ necessary to bring them along? I've spent more time pulling them apart than I have doing what we _came_ to do."

Folding his arms akimbo, Brute asked, "Have _you_ ever tried to keep young lovers apart? It's like pulling a dragon away from it's hoard. Take one, and you _have_ to take the other or they simply _can't_ go on any longer," he said, voice dripping in sarcasm.

"You're stalling. You only stall when you have bad news." Ava sighed. "Well, let's have it. What's going wrong now?"

Brute Strength grinned at his partner. "We really do know each other so well." When all he got in return was a stern glare, he held up his hands in surrender. "Alright, alright, just trying to let you brace for it." He grew serious again. "Targets one and two _are_ here, but are well protected. I daresay that even if we were to somehow catch one of them at their weakest point, taking one of them would prove unfeasible for us."

"And target three?"

"Not here," he answered, moving so that his magically camouflaged cloak freed up that arm, allowing him to place a long-stemmed pipe in his mouth. "I presume she's still in the Crystal Kingdom, but without any intelligence agents there, it's impossible to say."

Ava nodded at this. She had suspected from the beginning that their first three targets were far too ambitious for their little cadre of freedom fighters. "What about four through nine?"

He sat down on a log, and chewed on his unlit pipe thoughtfully. "All here, and under varying levels of protection. Target seven has the least, but is situated so far in town that getting to her will be... problematic. Same with eight, but she also has target six practically living with her, so _their_ guards are effectively doubled up most of the time. Nine looks inviting, being so far from town, but there are still too many witnesses there to complicate matters. Five _would_ be the choicest of them all, were target two not staying with her."

"And four?" Ava asked with desperation. "What about four?"

Brute Strength smiled at her. "That's where it gets interesting. Target one is currently staying with her," he smiled at Ava's crestfallen look, "but! So are her _marefriends_."

Ava looked delighted, then confused. "Wait, plural? I thought ponies no longer formed herds."

The minotaur shrugged. "Who cares? All we need to be concerned with is that it gives us three more choice targets to lure out four." He leaned forward eagerly. "But that's not even the best part." At Ava's raised eyebrow, he added, "If we move today, we're even getting _distractions_ for free."

The grin on the griffoness's face threatened to take in her whole head.

(\ /)

( . .)

*(")(")

Twilight walked into controlled chaos in the Apple family home. Apple Bloom ran from kitchen to dining room, a tray of apple pastries fresh from the oven balanced on her head, and Applejack and Granny Smith, were baking up a storm. The kitchen itself was a small disaster area, and a fine layer of flour and sugar coated almost every surface. "Mornin', Miss Twilight!" Apple Bloom said as she raced past to place the plate of baked goods on the table next to the growing pile.

"Good morning," she said cheerily to the filly. "Applejack, you got a minute?"

The farmer looked to the oven and nodded. "About that, Twi. What can I do yah for?" she asked as she walked into the dining room.

"I wanted to tell you that a carnival is in town," she said a little nervously. "Is that going to change anything?"

Applejack looked at her in confusion. "Carnival?" She put a hoof to her chin for a moment before asking, "Wouldn' happen to be McFreakerson's, would it?"

Taken aback, Twilight asked, "How did you know?"

"It was about time for her to be makin' her rounds out this neck of the woods," the earth pony answered. "It'll be jus' fine. That carnival's had a deal goin' with Sweet Apple Acres for longer than Ah've been aroun'. In fact, we're gonna have to step up production." She turned to the kitchen and shouted, "Hey, Granny! Twi says that Freaky's in town!"

Granny just waved acknowledgment and continued stirring her bowl. Apple Bloom's head popped up from behind the counter that separated the kitchen from the dining room. "Freaky's here? Woo hoo!" she shouted with glee.

She started to run off, but was stopped by Applejack's hoof. "Whoa there, little missy. We got _work_ to do."

"Aaawww..." she drawled as she walked back into the kitchen.

Twilight smiled at the filly. "Is there anything I can do to help, Applejack?"

"Well, Granny don' like ponies in her kitchen when she's cookin' up a storm like this," she replied. She saw the slightly disappointed look in Twilight's face and added, "But Big Mac's gonna need to bring out some more cider barrels than what he already did. If'n y'all could do that for us, we'd be mighty grateful."

She lead the unicorn out to the root cellar which had a small wagon parked next to it full of barrels. The farmer unlocked the cellar door, saying, "Jus' head on down. The barrels we need are out front. If'n y'all could bring out twenty or so, that should be enough. Meanwhile Ah'll take this back to the shed. We're gonna the _big_ wagon for this'n."

Twilight levitated the barrels out of the wagon and set them on the ground. "Sure thing, Applejack," she chirped happily. _I wonder if my girls would like to go on a date to this carnival?_


	8. Chapter 8

**I WOULD DO ANYTHING FOR LOVE**

* * *

Chapter 8: Welcome Back My Friends, to the Show That Never Ends.

* * *

Twilight stopped in amazement at the scene of controlled chaos before her. Grand, pavilion tents were being erected by strong, well-muscled earth ponies and two minotaurs. The stevedores pulled ropes through pulleys which sent massive poles upright, their peaks a dizzying height to the unicorn. Several pegasi flew across the park, directing the set up of the carnival. Unicorn's under the direction of a cloaked figure of what could only be a griffon assembled a midway of games, food stalls, and a haunted house. Even the lake saw activity as a couple of hippocampi put together a floating tunnel of love.

Nestled in the middle of all this, was Trixie's stagecart. The vehicle's owner stood upon the open stage, directing an earth pony and unicorn couple in the proper workings of her pride and joy. "No, not there! It'll set the curtains on fire if you put it there! Move it five hooves to the left- your _other_ left! There!" She turned to the female unicorn beside her who was holding a crate the size of a small filly in her magic. "Is that it?" she asked excitedly. "There's certainly more than Trixie expected! Please put it in the white box marked flash powder, not the black one- no, no, no, NO!" She walked over to the earth pony stallion and grabbed a curtain rope in her magic. "Like this. Over, under, around three times in a figure eight, then tied off in a sheepshank. Have you _really_ worked backstage before?"

Applejack beside her, nudged Twilight with a hoof. "Hey, yah goin' to help, or what? This here wagon ain't exactly light, yah know." She gestured behind her to the massive wagon hitched to her. At twenty-five hooves long and ten wide, it was the biggest on her farm; and it was absolutely packed to overflowing with twenty-eight barrels of cider and ten bushels of apples.

Shaking her head to clear it, Twilight replied, "Sorry, Applejack. I was... distracted."

The farmer snickered as Twilight's magic enveloped the wagon again, lightening the load considerably. "Yeah, Ah can tell." They continued through the park-turned- carnival grounds both nodding towards Trixie (who in turn, blew kisses to a blushing Twilight), until they stopped at a sturdy looking wagon.

The door opened before either of them could knock, and a roan mare walked out as she said to somepony further in, "And make sure there's plenty of room cleared for the apples. I'm sure they'll be here- oh! Hello, Applejack. We were just talking about you."

Tipping her hat, Applejack answered, "Mornin' Freaky. Ah figured yah'd be back soon, so we had your order set aside and ready for yah."

The large mare looked to the wagon and whistled. "Is this the first load?" she asked.

"First two," Applejack replied. "Thanks to Twilight here, Ah was able to do twice the work."

Freaky looked to the small unicorn mare appraisingly. "So _you're_ the famous Twilight Sparkle, huh?" She looked her up and down. "Well, I may not be into mares, but it's easy to see why Trixie thinks so highly of you." Twilight could only blush in response.

"Now, you know that flattering mah friends won't get yah a discount, Freaky. As it is, our margin is down to the bone," Applejack interjected humorously before Twilight passed out from all her blood going to her face instead of where it's needed.

"Can't blame a mare for trying, Applejack," Freaky replied.

(\ /)

( . .)

*(")(")

Spitfire tilted her head in confusion.

Five serpentine heads imitated her exactly.

Pulling away from the cage, she looked to the mare beside her. "Am I _really_ seeing this?"

Cheerilee sidled up closer to her until their sides touched; her body shivering at the ten eyes that followed her movement. "I think so. It certainly _looks_ like a real hydra."

The Wonderbolt arched an eyebrow at the creature. "This _can't_ be leg-"

"Hey! Step back from that cage!" shouted a voice that startled them both, Cheerilee leaping into Spitfire's forelegs with a yelp.

She gave the mare in her forelegs a dry look, who took the hint and climbed down again. Turning to the source of the disturbingly loud voice, Spitfire saw a bone white pegasus mare with a pink mane and tail dressed in shiny, black clothing and a coil of rope that hung from a special saddle.

"Don't you fool townies know a dangerous creature when you see one?" she asked. The hint of arrogance when she called them "townies" was unmistakable. "What are you doing here anyway? The carnival won't be open for hours."

Spitfire straightened her posture, allowing her to look down on the other mare. "We're looking for Trixie. The minotaur at the gate told us to go on in."

The white pegasus blew a raspberry in annoyance. "Pfft. Figures. I told Freaky that you can't trust Steel Nerves as a bouncer. He's too soft on the mares." She looked at the intruders appraisingly. "Let me guess. You flashed him a smile, batted your eyes, and he let you in, am I right?"

Cheerilee advanced on her, fury in her eyes. "How dare you insinuate that! For your information, Trixie is expecting us to deliver her some supplies."

The alabaster mare smiled at her. "Ooo... you got a fire in you. I like that." At that, she leaned forward and kissed the teacher deeply, complete with tongue. Cheerilee was so surprised, she couldn't think to do anything until the kiss was over. When their lips parted, the earth pony punched the pegasus as hard as she could, staggering her back a few steps. "_Lots_ of fire!"

She turned around to leave, a huge bruise forming on her cheek, and her eyes aglitter. She looked back as she trotted away, saying, "If you ever feel like trying out a _real_ mare, come see me. Just ask for Leather Lash."

Cheerilee started to run after her to administer a more thorough lesson, but was restrained by Spitfire, who had come up behind her and slipped her forelegs under the earth pony's to hold her back bodily. Cheerilee was spitting curses with such vile language at the laughing, retreating mare, that several of the carnies blushed at her. "You fornicating, log of excrement! You filthy piece of distended rectum! Return at once so I can teach the true meaning of pain, you self-involved, Celestia-forsaken, yeasty, onion-eyed, bum-bailey, ruttish, bawdy, ill-nurtured varlot! You reeky swag-bellied codpiece! You-"

Spitfire put an end to the insults with a hoof stuffed into Cheerilee's mouth as she struggled to drag the flailing teacher away. Once around a corner, the earth pony calmed down enough for the pegasus to release her. "You done?" She asked with a smirk.

The earth pony hawked up and spat fiercely on the ground. She wiped her mouth on her foreleg, saying, "Ugh! I _hate_ when ponies do that. Jumped-up, self-important-"

Placing a comforting hoof on the distressed mare's shoulder, Spitfire incredulously asked, "Whoa, that's happened before?"

Cheerilee glared to the side. "A couple of times. I don't like to talk about it."

"Come on, Cheers. All that venom will only fester if you leave it in there," Spitfire said, purposely using Twilight's nickname for her.

Sitting down with a sigh, Cheerilee began, "The first time was shortly after I... you know, _came out_. Coming from a large city like Cloudsdale was probably a lot easier for you, but here in a dinky little town like this? Especially considering the reputation my sister had garnered in her earlier years, it's a wonder it hadn't happened sooner."

"Your sister?"

"Berry Punch. She has- _had_ a reputation as a party filly. She's worked hard to clean herself up since then, but she still bears the scars; still has responsibilities from back then." She looked Spitfire in the eye. "I want you to know that I don't blame her for anything. I love my sister with all my heart, but when other ponies heard that I like mares as much as colts, they assumed I was following in her hoofsteps. One colt decided that fillies 'like me' all want to be taken by strong, virile colts." She smiled evilly at the memory. "Berry walked in on it, and by the time she was done with him, I doubt he ever touched a filly again." Cheerilee chuckled. "It's thanks to him that I swore off all colts for life. Too much testosterone, too much swagger, too much... _coltishness_."

Spitfire moved her hoof to cover Cheerilee's on the ground. "Oh, Cheerilee..."

"The second time," Cheerilee began suddenly, "was in college. There was a younger mare I was pursuing; still in high school, actually, but I was foalish, and went after her anyway." She sighed as tears came to her eyes. "She rejected me; didn't want that kind of relationship with me. It hurt, but not as bad as her friend telling everypony she met that I... 'made myself available' to anypony looking for a good time." The teacher sniffed and rubbed the tears from her eyes. "This time it was a mare making the unwanted advances, but I was old enough and wise enough to handle the situation myself."

Cheerilee smiled wryly and looked to the sky. "Last I heard, Moondancer told her friend off, and neither of us ever heard from her again. As for me," she continued, closing her eyes and dropping her head again, "I threw myself into my other passion, teaching. That is, until I met Twilight. Oh, sure, there were others before Moondancer, but after her?" The teacher shook her head as her smile became genuine at she thought of the love of her life and mother of her foal. "Twilight's different. _Special_. There's nothing she can do, that I can't forgive. Not even Moondancer got _that_ from me." Looking at Spitfire in the eyes again, she said, "I guess that's the big reason I can tolerate having to share her with you and Trixie."

Spitfire was stunned at this confession. "You... you can really forgive her anything? Even..."

Looking down and patting her belly, Cheerilee replied, "Yeah. I might get mad at her for a while, but she's too..."

"...lovable?" Spitfire ventured. She brushed away some errant drops of water, and looked to the clouds overhead, but there wasn't any further rain, so she shrugged it off and payed attention to Cheerilee who was answering her query.

"Yeah. Lovable. If there's one word to describe her, it's that." Cheerilee took a deep breath and sighed.

Spitfire surprised her with a chaste kiss on the lips. "Come on. We'd better get going. Trixie's going to need her lunch with all the work she's doing right now; not to mention the show later on."

Cheerilee looked at her in wonderment and touched a hoof to her lips that now burned with a heat she thought reserved for a certain librarian. She blushed and smiled shyly at the pegasus and nodded silently. With that, the two mares ventured further into the fairgrounds in search of one of their missing foursome.

(\ /)

( . .)

*(")(")

The minotaur stopped shoveling fish into the manticore's manger and watched the two mares walking away. Working a small stone from under his tongue, he put it between his teeth and bit down. "Ava, this is Brute Strength. Do you hear me?" he whispered.

_"I hear you, Brute. What do you have to report?"_

"I've got a visual on targets four-A and four-C." He smiled as he watched them turn a corner out of sight. "I sprinkled them with the tracing potion, so you'll be able to spot them with the goggles I gave you."

_"I'd still like to know just where these things came from. I really hate putting object of unknown origin in my mouth like this."_

Brute Strength chuckled at his partner's distrust of magical objects. "Just know that my sources are beyond reproach. As long as you don't swallow the stone, you'll be fine." He grinned at her indiscernible grumblings over their telepathic link. "I'm kidding," he said placatingly. "But seriously, don't swallow it. I don't want to have to listen to your stomach trying to digest it until you pass the stone."

_"How much longer before the distraction arrives?"_

The minotaur resumed filling the trough before he was noticed to be slacking. "Within the next few hours. Just don't get caught before the dragons arrive. There's only one griffon here, so you'd stand out right away."

_"I know, I know. Have you decided which one will be easiest to take?"_

"Definitely the earth mare. Just be prepared for a fight. She's feisty, that one." Brute smiled at the memory of her curses and filed them away for future use.

_"Please. The day I can't handle a ground pounder- and a namby-pamby_ pony _at that, is the day I hang up my spurs._ You _just be ready to cover our escape."_

"Understood. Brute out." He worked the rock back under his tongue and turned to move on to the next cage, but stopped in his tracks.

Before him, stood the wizened old crone of a griffoness, cloak shielding her weak eyes from even the dim glare of the sun on this cloudy day. "Lightning Reflexes, was it?" she asked in her croak of a voice.

Brute Strength nodded to her respectfully. "Yes, Ma'am. Something I can do for you?" he asked in his deep baritone.

"You can start," she said, "by covering these cages with tarps. I have a feeling that it would be a good idea."

He looked at her quizzically. "Tarps? Won't that make it hard for the customers to see them?"

Aura shook her head. "It doesn't matter anyway. The beast cages won't be on public view today in any case." As she walked away, she tossed back over her shoulder, "I'm sure a bull of _your_ brute strength could handle a task such as this."

The minotaur's look of complete shock was quickly hidden under a mask of work, but it couldn't completely hide his worry.

(\ /)

( . .)

*(")(")

As News Flash loaded a new roll of film, she looked to her friend, and rival from a competitor's paper, Buried Lead. "Oh, come _on_, Bury. Even _you_ have to admit that she's a gold mine! Ah mean, set aside all that yellin' she did at th'two ponies helpin' her, set aside that shot we got o'her with her tail in the air when she tripped ovah the rope somepony left on the stage, Hay, set aside even th'bucket o'water she conjured over herself accident'ly. She's _seein'_ Twilight Sparkle!"

Buried Lead nervously waved a hoof at his friend. "Come on, Newsie," he said, almost pronouncing the nickname like "nosy", "We don't know for certain that they're dating. For all we know, she could be a big admirer of Twilight's. Celestia knows she's got plenty of them out there."

The unicorn mare looked at him pityingly, as one might look upon a child who refused to see that it was time to go to bed. "Oh, please. Yah saw them blowin' kisses and wavin' at each othah. What's it gonna take for yah to admit Ah'm right; them makin' out in front o'yah?"

"That blue mare blew the kisses. Twilight just waved and blushed as she walked past. You're really reading too much into this, Newsie." Buried Lead waved off her "evidence" with a hoof.

News Flash gave a grunt of annoyance. "An, _you're_ not readin' enough. S'like our journalism teachahs said back in college: If'n yah cain't _find_ a story, yah ain't _lookin'_ hard enough." She turned back to watching Trixie onstage, who was turning a bouquet of flowers into a swarm of butterflies. "S'almost like yah don't _want_ to print juicy stories." She looked again at her friend, sadness in her eyes. "Ah declah, yah was born in the wrong age, Bury."

"Sometimes, I think so too, Newsie," Buried Lead said as he snapped a picture of the stevedores pulling the big top erect.

(\ /)

( . .)

*(")(")

"But Your Highness, the situation is becoming far too dangerous!" Plain Sight said in a pleading tone. "It's bad enough that some of the dragons flying past might land with all the excitement going on down here, but we have a confirmed report from the Griffo-Minos! They captured a cell of these 'United Creature Liberation Front' maniacs. There were plans and a list of potential foalnapping targets with the the Princesses and the Elements at the top!" She ran a hoof through her frazzled mane, letting her flatcap fall back into place. "My team and what few guards you brought with you are woefully inadequate to handle the impending horsea- disaster! Your Highness, _please_ reconsider."

Celestia nuzzled the distraught mare, immediately bringing her to a calm state. "If it will make you feel any better, I shall send for the captain of my guard and another squad of my personal retinue as well as a squad of my sister's night guard. Will that suffice?"

The gray mare scrubbed her face with her hooves and sighed as she dragged them down, deforming her face. "Not really, Your Highness, but I suppose it's the best I'll get out of you."

Chuckling lightly with her silver bell-like laugh, Celestia smiled down at her master spy. "I can always tell when you're upset with me. You get so formal." The earth pony blushed and drew her cap down over her eyes. The Princess tilted her head up with a hoof until their gazes met again. "Consider it a sign of trust in your abilities that I am so reluctant to call forth more of the guard or return early. Whereas my guards have my personal safety as their paramount concern, I know that I can safely leave the Elements of Harmony, especially Twilight, in your capable hooves."

Plain Sight's blush redoubled as she stammered a reply. "I-I-I'm just doing my duty, Your Highness. I'd do the same for anypony whose safety you put into my hooves."

Celestia smiled sadly at her. "Of course you would. You'd best be about your work then. I have a message to send to Canterlot." She nodded as the earth pony bowed and left the library through the back. _Such a shame you lack the courage. You could do much worse than Twilight's herd._ She sighed as she pulled a quill and parchment from thin air to begin her request for more security. She put the quill to her lips in thought before writing. _I suppose you choose to remain distant so that you might perform your duty without letting your feelings interfere. I am proud of you, yet saddened for what could have been._

She quickly jotted down the request, and with a flash of light, it was gone, sent on the aether to her chamberlain. She was surprised when Luna walked in, Fluttershy close behind. "Sister, there is talk on the wind that the dragon's migration shall be diverted this way. What say you?" Luna asked without preamble.

Celestia beheld the two of them, and was suddenly reminded of another time, another place, ages past, though not far from this very library. She turned away suddenly and closed her eyes to the tears forming, her melancholic thoughts jumping to the memory easily. Luna stepped forward and placed a hoof on her sister's shoulder. " 'Tia?" she whispered in a shaky voice.

Wiping a tear away that had leaked past, the alabaster mare straightened up. "Sorry. I... Just an... old memory." She took a deep, cleansing breath and let it out again. "You were asking about the dragons, Lulu?"

Fluttershy giggled gaily at Celestia's use of the pet name, causing the alicorns to send a smile her way. "Aye," Luna replied. "dost thou thinkest they wouldst be churlish enow as to disturb the festivities?"

"Oh, I shouldn't think so," Celestia answered. "At least, not on purpose, anyway. One or two of the smaller ones might land to take in the sights and sounds, but if anything, it will add to the spectacle."

"Um, if it's all the same to you, Luna, I'd like to stay near you if the dragons _do_ come," Fluttershy said in a small voice. "That is, if you don't mind..."

Luna nuzzled the pegasus with a joyful smile. "Verily, t'would be our pleasure and honor, dear Fluttershy to be thy escort."

Celestia smiled outwardly at the scene, but felt her heart ache on the inside.

(\ /)

( . .)

*(")(")

Trixie was back in her element. That was the only way to describe it. The butterflies that always made their appearance before a show were there, the audience was in place (small though it was), and she had her new routine down pat. She peeked around the curtain again and felt the butterflies settle down as her eyes landed on Twilight, who sat in the front row. There were other ponies with her that she was talking to, but they may as well have been background foliage for all the attention Trixie paid them. Her eyes were for Twilight, alone.

She pulled out a pocket watch from her hat and noted the time. At five seconds to three, she nodded and put it away again. Counting out five breaths, she used her magic to activate the flash powder set up in the floor of the stage and stepped out, hooves upraised in triumph, and a smile as big as all outdoors. "Welcome one and all, to the Great and Powerful Trixie's Storytime Show!" _Oh, YES! This is what had been missing in my life!_

Gone were the fears. Gone were the doubts. Gone were the hard times upon which she had fallen since her last show in Ponyville. There was only the now. Now, and the applause of the audience, no matter how sparse it was. It didn't matter to Trixie if there was so little clapping that she could easily pick out Twilight's whistles. Just the fact that Twilight _was_ there and enjoying the show was enough for her.

"Today, Trixie will regale you with a new tale, one never before told by her!" She paced the length of the stage, meeting the eyes of everypony she could. She was surprised to see Luna seated between Celestia and Fluttershy, but was _far_ too professional to let that trip her up. "Today," she stage whispered conspiratorially with a hoof to her mouth as if telling a secret, "Trixie will tell you... how the Amazing and Stupendous Twilight Sparkle saved Ponyville from the dreaded Ursa Minor!"

Roaman candles shot balls of colored lights into the air as sparklers and pinwheels brought oohs and aahs from the fillies and colts in the audience. With a wave of her hoof, she painted an illusory scene through her magic. It started simply enough with a brash unicorn mare coming into a small town, intent on entertaining, but let her hubris get the better of her. With a cruel smirk, she belittled several townsponies with arrogant displays of her magic.

It wasn't until an Ursa, drawn to the noise and flashes that the mare showed her true powerlessness. Nothing she did was able to stop the enormous ursine creature. No trick, no distraction, not even her best "pick a card" routine could help her. As she stood, waiting for the final blow to land, the one that would surely end her; the Ursa stopped, head cocked sideways, listening to music carried upon the wind.

From behind a building, stepped a grand and imposing unicorn mare. From her manner of dress, as well as the staff of power she carried, one wouldn't be wrong in assuming she was a powerful sorceress.

The giant star bear swayed on it's feet until it fell over. Such a large creature would surely have crushed many ponies and buildings, had the purple unicorn not caught it in her telekinetic grasp. The Ursa mewled in comfort as it snuggled into the caressing comfort of the magic.

The unicorn's eyes glowed white as she concentrated further, and a giant bottle of milk, as large as a water tower, appeared. The bear gladly accepted the bottle and suckled as the unicorn gently floated the bear over the horizon where it was never heard from again.

The boastful unicorn looked to the powerful one and bowed her head in shame, for she knew that not only had she been beaten, the victor saw no need to brag about it. Trixie walked forward from behind the illusion, hat in hoof. "I have come here today for two purposes. First is to apologize for my actions on my first visit to your fair town. And second, to beg for the forgiveness of everypony here." She turned the hat in her hooves as if trying to find the front of it. "Trix- _I_ am not used to either of those things, but I hope you'll find it in your hearts to accept them."

Thunderous applause met her astonishment. She looked up to see that almost, if not _every_ pony in Ponyville, alongside many of the carnies, were here and clapping or stomping their hooves for her. The showmare's jaw dropped as she looked towards Twilight and saw tears of joy wetting her blindfold, and a grin that almost showed all her teeth.

Trixie's eyes too, began to water and she threw her forelegs up in triumph once more as more fireworks went off behind her, and a flight of dragons rocketed over them.

(\ /)

( . .)

*(")(")

Brute Strength smiled as the first dragons flew overhead. He began trying to unlock the manticore's cage, but his huge, blunt fingers were unable to manipulate the fine workings of the lock with his picks.

"What are you doing?"

The croaky old voice froze him in his steps. Turning his head slightly, he saw the old griffon Aura with a large minotaur standing next to her. Brute took the padlock in his massive hand and smiled. "This!" With tremendous strength, he ripped the padlock from the cage, using his momentum to sock the other minotaur in the jaw, laying him out on the ground, unconscious. Opening his hand, he let the mangled lock fall to the ground next to the minotaur.

"Steel Nerves!" the griffoness shouted as she fell to his side and cradled his head.

Brute strength smiled down at her. "I suggest you run. It won't take long for the rest of the creatures to be freed from your tyrannical rule; and when they do, you will long for the days when a few steel bars stood between you." With that, he swung open the gate and ran off towards another cage where Great Fortitude was already finagling open the mimic's cage (which was currently imitating a desk), forgoing all subtlety in favor of speed.

Aura looked up as the manticore slowly prowled out, as if testing whether or not the cage still restricted it. Their eyes met as the leonine creature lashed its scorpion-like tail, and gave a low, throaty growl.

(\ /)

( . .)

*(")(")

Cheerilee stood in front of Big Mac's kiosk in the midway, was agog. An entire flight of titanic dragons flew overhead, some low enough for her to make out individual scales on their bellies. Her apple strudel lay in her hoof, all but forgotten as she stared at the creatures.

Her wonderment was cut short however, as she was roughly picked up bodily, and was taken into the air, strudel falling to the ground uneaten. "What the-"

"Shut up, you stupid pony!" a gruff voice above her said.

The teacher looked up to see a griffon wearing strange goggles that dimly glowed green in the cloudy afternoon sun. "Put me down this instant!" she said as she began to struggle free of her grasp.

Ava however, was having none of that, and squeezed, cruelly piercing her skin, and putting terrific pressure on the mare's belly.

Cheerilee cried out, but more out of fear for her foal, than agony. "Aaauuuggghhh! Why are you doing this?"

"I said quiet! You don't need to know anything!" Ava turned her attention forward again as she began climbing above the clouds.

(\ /)

( . .)

*(")(")

It hadn't even taken half a second for Big Mac to leap into action when he saw Cheerilee being snatched away. He vaulted up onto the kiosk and with a great "Oof!" bounded over to the roof of a shooting range stall. Galloping along the edge, he leaped up in an attempt to grab onto the fleeing griffon, but missed by the skin of his teeth, and landed in a haystack.

He watched as the griffoness escaped with his friend through the clouds, and narrowed his eyes. This was definitely beyond his abilities, but he knew just whom he should bring into this. And she was not going to be happy. Eenope.

(\ /)

( . .)

*(")(")

All the ponies in the audience were having a hard time splitting their attention between what Trixie was doing onstage, and the dragons flying overhead. As predicted, several of the smaller ones flew down to see what all the ruckus down here was. Although many ponies were steering clear of them, they weren't causing any trouble, so were left alone.

Twilight had been explaining to Celestia how Trixie was performing her deeds, when she was called away by Spitfire, and was now sharing a wheat shake with her at the back of the audience, where she could keep an eye on her favorite showmare and provide moral support.

The sound of somepony screaming pulled _everyone's_ attention away from Trixie's spectacle, and as one, they turned to face behind them. Several loud roars drowned out everypony's screams of terror, but only temporarily. Ponies started rushing forward, followed closely by a hydra as big as a house.

From the shadows between to carnival stalls, a lance flew out with deadly accuracy towards Celestia. Before it could even get close to her, a white unicorn leapt in front of her, taking the projectile in his shoulder. Twilight's eyes flew to him as he shouted "Assassin!" and recognized her brother dressed as a civilian tourist.

Shining Armor's hoof went to his throat, and with a flash, he, along with both Princesses disappeared.

The librarian ran towards the spot they once occupied, but was stopped by a large hoof. She turned to see Big Mac, who looked at her in worry. "Miss Twilight!" he drawled. "Yah gotta come quick! Some griffon jus' stole Miss Cheerilee!"


	9. Chapter 9

I WOULD DO ANYTHING FOR LOVE

* * *

Chapter 9: Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting.

* * *

Shining Armor popped into existence along with the Princesses in a crowd of guards and his wife.

"Shining, what's wrong? We got an omega alert, and- SHINING!" Cadance's question died on her lips when she saw the huge lance still lodged in her husband's chest.

Before she could do anything, he shouted, "Safe room, NOW!" and the guards snapped to life. Amongst the protests of all three Princesses, their ever-alert sentinels quickly and efficiently herded them into a room standing open behind the mares.

Celestia was in a panic. "No! We left Twilight and the Elements! Get them here first!" she shouted, but her pleas fell on deaf ears.

"SHINING!" Cadance shouted as she tried to reach him.

The Princess's husband stoically watched them as they were pushed into the safe room and the doors closed with a resounding _**BOOM**_.

Celestia was first to the heavy, steel lead-lined doors and pounded on them with her hooves until her shoes were dented and bent, falling to the ground, forgotten. **"NO! TWILIGHT!"**

Cadance wasn't in any better shape, having collapsed to the floor in a sobbing heap. Luna went to her and nuzzled her gently. "We art sure thy love wilt be fine, Cadenza. Keep the faith."

Looking around the room, Celestia sought another way out, even knowing that there wasn't. She should know, since she designed it as a last point of refuge, should something like this happen. The steel, circular walls arched overhead to meet at a central point, and there were no windows to offer an ingress to attackers, but also no exit for its occupants. The walls themselves were lined with maps of Equestria and it's surrounding countries as well as racks of enchanted weapons and armor sized to meet Celestia and Luna's needs.

Standing before one of the weapon racks, the alabaster mare selected a halberd with her telekinesis, floating it up to her for inspection. Luna noticed this and looked distressed. " 'Tia! Surely thou aren't-" Celestia sent a glance her way that silenced the night mare immediately. She reached a hoof up to her collar, and Luna's eyes went wide. "Sister, no! Thou canst-"

Before another word could be uttered, Celestia ripped the collar from her neck. Instantly, the room became unbearably bright and hot. Waves of light and heat could be seen emanating from the solar diarch, blinding and distorting everypony's vision. Her mane and tail were no longer their familiar pastel hues, but instead burned with the intensity of the sun's orange and yellow super-heated plasma. Flares and prominences roiled across the surface, and small, black spots lazily drifted within them. The alicorn's coat was a blinding yellow-white that shed light brighter than any earthly fire. Celestia's eyes were the sole spot of cool color, blazing with a blue fiery light that felt like they could burn the soul. Unnoticed, her crown and rear shoes melted into golden puddles upon the charring and cracking floor.

"Twilight's in danger," she said, her voice devoid of any of her familiar warmth, but possessed a depth and gravitas it normally lacked in all but the most formal of occasions. The walls reverberated with each word, even though she didn't use the Royal Canterlot Voice. Luna shivered in fear. They had not used their true voices since shortly after discovering that normal ponies could not withstand it. "I made a promise, Luna. I _won't_ let it happen all over again. I _can't_. As long as I draw breath, _she_ will be safe. Even at the cost of my own _life_."

Celestia pointed her horn at a wall and a small ball of light formed in front of the tip. Luna threw her wing over the distraught Cadance and erected a shield of energy. The blast was deafening in the small, steel room; the cloud of smoke, choking.

(\ /)

( . .)

*(")(")

"Careful," the doctor said as he bound Shining's wound. "This is just temporary. Move too much, and the wound will reopen. What you need is bed rest."

The unicorn shook his head. "Can't. Too much to do." He looked to his lieutenant. "Any word yet from Plain Sight?"

"None yet, sir."

"Then never mind it. I'm going back to Ponyville myself along with the third battalion." He pointed towards the lance, and the message etched into it. "If we can take what's written here at face value, then I'll be needed there." Inscribed on the lance were the words, "We have the mare. If you want to see her alive again, you'll meet our demands. We'll be in touch. The united Creature Liberation Front."

Shining kicked the lance with disgust and fear. He glanced back at his lieutenant, saying, "Have the troops-" Further instructions would have to wait as an explosion from the safe room in front of which they had gathered, knocked everypony on the ground off their hooves. Even the flying pegasi were thrown for a loop.

Shining Armor leapt to his hooves again and ran to the concealed button that opened the doors, frantically pressing it. A second, smaller boom had him scrabbling for balance, but he ran to the opening anyway. He looked in, expecting to see his worst fear, but saw only Luna and Cadance lying side-by-side, huddled for protection, and a gaping hole in the wall; and no Princess Celestia.

(\ /)

( . .)

*(")(")

Celestia sped along, faster than she had in centuries, her halberd floating beside in her telekinetic grip. She was flying so fast, that actual flapping would only have slowed her down. Her wings were out, but held behind her at an acute angle, feathers tamped down close to reduce drag. Her mane and tail bled into a streak of plasma behind her, leaving a weird fiery contrail in the sky.

_Faster. I have to get there before she's hurt. I can't let her be hurt like last time._ This mantra kept urging her to pile on the speed. Without the inhibitor collar that kept her powers in check so that she didn't accidentally kill ponies on sight, she could actually turn herself into light, and be there even before she finished thinking about it, but she ran the risk of overshooting her goal and having to backtrack.

Had she been thinking clearly, she would have teleported, but her concern over Twilight and the Elements of Harmony, dashed all other concerns from her mind. Instead, she poured her magic into propelling her forward, heedless of the wind ripping and tearing the skin off of her face; and prayed that she could make the normally three to four hour flight in record time.

_Twilight!_ Celestia's deafening hypersonic boom destroyed further coherent thought from her mind.

(\ /)

( . .)

*(")(")

Ava only saw the pegasus at the last minute, and jinked to the right to avoid having her wing clipped from above. As it was, she lost a few primaries to the attack, but stayed aloft with her target. She could hear the sky blue stallion curse as he flew past, they were so close.

A second, lilac-gray pegasus mare with a spiky, white mane dived at her from behind and grabbed onto Ava's leonine tail. Squawking at the outrage, she kicked out with her rear legs, landing a solid blow to the mare's head. High Hide flew up to her and asked, "You okay, Cloudchaser?"

Cloudchaser shook her head to clear it, setting her eyes straight again. "Yeah, I'll live. Which way did she go?" she asked, looking everywhere.

"Dived back below the clouds. Come on!" he replied and stooped into a dive once again. They burst through the clouds again, only to find themselves in the middle of the dragon migration. The dragon's appeared too startled upon seeing them to do anything, and just flew around them.

Spotting a flash of color, Cloudchaser pointed with a hoof. "There!" and dived after their target.

The two pegasi slalomed around the dragons in pursuit of the griffoness, narrowly avoiding collision time after time. Burdened as she was with the solidly-built earth pony in her foreclaws, it didn't take long for the nimble pegasi to catch up to her again. High Hide shouted at her, "Land, now! You are in violation of Equestrian law! Surrender now, and-"

The stallion's cries were cut off as another griffoness tackled him from above, causing them both to tumble from the air. They fell from the sky together in a tangled ball of fur and feathers, hissing, biting, clawing, and even bucking at each other. Dragons swerved to keep clear of them, but when one is the size of a city block, maneuverability is a commodity that is difficult to come by.

An enormous green dragon barrel rolled to avoid hitting them, but the griffoness's wing was clipped by the dragon's spiked tail, narrowly escaping severance. She screeched as the bones broke, and with a last bit of effort, High Hide bucked her right in the chest, separating them at last. Both surprised the next dragon to come along, and struck him in opposite wings, tumbling end over end on them after a backbreaking impact with the leading edges. Unfortunately, between all the wounds inflicted on him, and the effort of freeing himself, he had no remaining energy, and he couldn't even gather enough vigor to spread his wings and slow his fall. He watched as his partner chased down the foalnapper and lost consciousness before he even hit the ground.

Cloudchaser was not having it any easier. Even without Cheerilee, Cloudchaser was the more nimble flyer, but she lacked the griffon's great endurance and wide, strong wings. She struggled to catch up after taking only a second to look back at High Hide, before remembering that her priority was the protection of that defenseless mare. She redoubled her efforts, but found that the griffon was slowly outdistancing her.

Tears of frustration leaked from her eyes and were blown off on the winds as she saw the griffon become a dot in the distance. Flying over the Everfree forest she paused to catch her breath and saw disappear from view. Beyond exhausted, her left wing cramped into an odd pose, sending her spiraling out of control into the dreaded forest below.

The plainclothes guardian pierced the canopy, hitting what felt like every branch in the forest on the way down. She was almost knocked unconscious several times, but managed to keep her wits about her enough to roll with the roughest landing she had ever experienced. She spat out a mouthful of dirt and pounded her hoof at the ground.

Groaning as she rose, Cloudchaser inspected herself for damage. Discovering that half the feathers were missing from her left wing, she groaned again and facehoofed. She ceased all movement and sound, however, when she head the low growl coming from the bushes. That's when the smell of rotting plant matter and fouled magic hit her nostrils.

(\ /)

( . .)

*(")(")

Twilight stared at Big Macintosh, her jaw hanging loosely. "She's been _WHAT_?"

"Foal-" Big Mac's words were lost to the quintet roar of the baby hydra that was terrorizing the ponies.

Giving the hydra an annoyed look with her sensor, Twilight levitated the surprised creature up in a pink bubble of energy and launched towards Froggy Bottom Bog; not even sparing it another glance as it cleared the treeline. She turned back to the frightened stallion and said, "Now, what did you say?"

He nervously, but quickly went through what he experienced, and before the last word even left his mouth, she turned around to Spitfire. "Find my friends, gather them here, now." The golden mare saluted and sped off. Twilight turned to Trixie who was just now approaching. "Trixie, Cheerilee's been foalnapped. I need your help in getting her back before something terrible happens."

"F- _foalnapped_? Who would even _do_ that?" she cried out.

"I don't know," Twilight replied, "but I intend to make sure they're never in a position to do anything of the kind, _ever_ again." The cold tone of her voice sent a chill up the showmare's spine. Turning back to the farmpony, she said, "Big Mac, I need you to round up what guards of the Princesses' remain and help them to recapture all the wild creatures terrorizing the townsponies. Tell them _I_ said to do so."

The red stallion nodded and galloped off to find the nearest guardspony. Twilight turned to the sky just as Spitfire returned with Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash, each with one of their friends hanging from their hooves. "Good, you're all here. Here's what's going to happen," she said before any of them could even open their mouth in greeting. "We're going to Big Mac's stall to see if we can pick up the trail before it goes cold or is trampled. Then, we're going to get her back, and make sure they never do this again. Any questions?"

"We're right b'hind yah, Twi. Lead th' way," Applejack drawled.

As Twilight lead them to the scene of the crime, Pinkie asked, "You don't think it was that meanypants Gilda out for revenge, do you? I mean, she _was_ a meanypants, but this is like extra-super-duper meanypants with a side of cheese fries."

"I doubt it, Pinkie-Pie," replied Spitfire. "From Twilight's description of Gilda, and Big Mac's description of the foalnapper, it sounds like two different griffons."

Dash nodded with the golden pegasus. "Yeah. She may be a big, fat jerk these days, but she'd never do something like this. This goes _way_ beyond any pranks we pulled in the past."

They arrived on the scene, taking note of the Apple's kiosk right away. The canvas roof was ripped and torn, hanging loosely from the wooden poles. Apparently, Big Mac's weight proved to be too much for more than the single attempt he made.

Twilight examined the ground, her sensor turning pink. "I'm definitely picking up Cheerilee's pheromones, here." She poked at a crushed and trampled pastry. "This must be the danish Big Mac sold her."

Following the line with her sensor from the danish to the cart, Twilight turned around one hundred eighty degrees and saw the shooting range stall. Looking up, she could see the trail of pheromones go up into the air, but quickly lost track of it as it went through the dragon migration which was still going strong with no sign of stopping.

Twilight grimaced angrily at the turn in fortune. "Looks like we're going to have to fly after them, girls." She turned to them, the same grim expression marring her features. "There's no time to set up my balloon to pursue them, so we're going to have to try something... _experimental_. You don't have to accept the spell, but if you don't you'll have to stay behind, I'm afraid."

Applejack looked at her skeptically. "What're yah thinkin' sugarcube?"

"I'm going to give us wings and a spell to make us fly faster and farther," the librarian replied. "If any of you want out, say so now. I won't think any less of you for staying, but we need to get going before the trail gets any colder than it already is."

After a brief, worrying glance at each other, the earthbound ponies nodded. "Of _course_ we're with you, Twilight," Rarity said.

"To the hilt," Affirmed Trixie.

"A chance to fly?" Pinkie-Pie shouted. "How could I _not_ take you up on this?" The pink mare put her forelegs up like she was flying and made "whoosh" noises with her mouth.

"Ah reckon if there's a pony Ah could trust with magic," Applejack said, "it's you, Twi. Ah'd foller yah to the gates of Tartarus."

Twilight turned to Spitfire, who only said, "You don't even have to ask, Hon. I'd go to the edge of the world for you, and beyond."

Rainbow Dash jerked her head towards the other mares. "What they said."

With a smile, Twilight's horn began glowing, enveloping all seven of them in a cocoon of light. They lifted off the ground as a faint hum that grew in pitch filled the area. Just as the sound reached the edge of pony hearing, the cocoons burst in a flash of light, leaving three alicorns and four pegasi. At least, that's what they looked like to the outside viewer.

As one, they took up an arrow formation behind the blindfolded unicorn and took to the skies with blinding speed.

(\ /)

( . .)

*(")(")

Big Macintosh felt like a total heel right now. One of his friends, who also happened to be the marefriend of _another_ friend was taken right before his very eyes; and here he was, chasing down an ambulatory perambulator. If it weren't for the fact that Dinky Doo had climbed into the foal carriage to hide from a group of parasprites, he would be out there trying to set right the wrong he had let happen. But no, when an escaped mimic foalnaps a filly for Celestia knows what reason, one would surely find any decent pony trying to rescue said filly.

It helped that Dinky was trying to reach out to him as well, as the farmer chased down the runaway buggy. What _didn't_ help was that the two guards that had been at his side helping, were distracted by a Dullahan pony chasing down frightened mares. He tried to tell them that this one was harmless, but that would have meant letting the mimic get away with its precious cargo.

So he kept up the chase, dodging around corners and ponies alike, slowly catching up to it. He was almost within grabbing distance of the handle, when he rounded a corner to find an empty alleyway. Big Mac only thought to look up when he heard the filly whimper, and saw her dangling from a weather vane that protruded from the house wall, rather than the roof where such a device belonged. He sighed with relief and plucked the cowering little unicorn from her precarious position with his teeth.

As he did so, the rooster of the weather vane turned towards him and began pecking at his face. The mimic let go of the wall to which it clung, and used the arms of the weather vane shape as tentacles to wrap itself around the stallion's head and continue pecking at him. Big Mac set Dinky on the ground and bashed his head against the wall in an attempt to stun the creature clinging there. Sadly for him, the creature could see this avenue of attack coming, and moved out of the way each time.

After the third attempt, the farmer was too dazed to do anything besides look at the stars swirling around him as he collapsed to the ground. He was saved from further pain when the creature ran to the shivering filly who was looking for something to which she could cling. Dinky found a stuffed pony doll amongst the litter and held it close.

The stallion looked over at her when his vision cleared, but could not find any sign of the runaway creature. Gently as could be, he picked up the filly in his teeth again, and setting her on his back, still clinging to the doll that looked remarkably like Twilight, then trotted back to where they left her mother. Today was just turning out _weird_.

(\ /)

( . .)

*(")(")

Ava landed in the clearing, gasping and wheezing. "How can... a pony... small as you... be so... HEAVY?" she rasped.

Cheerilee staggered away from her when she was released, and stumbled to the ground. She whimpered and tried to stand, but collapsed back to the ground when a jolt of pain shot up her leg. She looked back to her rear end and saw a large gash on her flank, a rivulet of blood trailing down to her hoof. She stared at the blood, shocked at the redness of the color and how much was coming from the wound and the various, smaller scratches.

"Tch." Ava grunted in disgust at the softness of the mare. "You ponies always have it so good. Must be nice having your own Goddesses ruling over you. No internal conflict, outside threats automatically cowed, _benevolence from your masters_. Feh!" She clawed up the ground before her. "_You'll_ never really have to struggle. _You'll_ never have to fight tooth and claw just to keep what's yours. You make me SICK!" The griffoness spat on the mare's face, who was so engrossed with the sight of her own blood, did not react.

An eerie howl caught her attention, and she looked to the west. Ava grunted as she rose back to her feet and stretched her tired muscles. Looking back to her captive, she sneered at her passivity. "Come on, _pony_," she said, making the word sound like an insult. "We're almost there. Then you can stare at your precious blood all you want."

Ava roughly grabbed Cheerilee in her foreclaws and took to the air once again. Unseen behind her, a pair of eyes glinted from the shadows under a bush, then winked out.

(\ /)

( . .)

*(")(")

Twilight sped along at the head of the formation, dread forming a lead weight in her stomach. She didn't want to tell them just _why_ she was able to track so well by pheromone sight. Telling them that she was essentially tracking Cheerilee's _blood_ would do nopony any good, though it did impel her to fly faster than even _she_ thought she could.

The trail went down into the forest; far deeper than anypony she knew of had ever been. They had apparently briefly stopped, before pushing on, and landing again about another half kilotrot further. Twilight landed on a cloud and waited for all of her group to land. When Fluttershy (who was trailing behind quite a ways) touched down, she said, "Alright, girls. I think we've tracked them down to their lair."

"There's more than one?" Rainbow Dash asked.

Twilight shrugged. "I haven't detected any other scents other than Cheerilee and one other; the griffon, I presume. However, it would not only be passing strange for this to be the work of a lone individual, but also almost impossible to pull off."

Spitfire nodded in ascent. "My thoughts exactly. A griffon would be easily noticed in Ponyville. She would have needed others to reconnoiter for her, at the very least." Her eyes narrowed dangerously. "There's no telling what other mischief they got up to, so it's safe to assume there _were_ others."

A startled gasp escaped Pinkie-Pie's mouth. "You don't mean that there were... SPIES," Somehow, she had managed to make the whisper sound like a shout at the same time. "do you?"

"Most likely," Twilight said with a sad shake of her head. "I doubt they were pony spies, but one can never tell for sure." She pointed towards a small rise and her sensor turned pink once more as it turned in the same direction. "It looks like they landed on or near that hoofhill. There's likely to be shelter of some sort, probably camouflaged."

Indicating the cloud upon which they stood, Twilight explained, "We're going to take a hold of this cloud, and move it as inconspicuously as possible towards that hill. Fluttershy," She pointed towards the yellow mare. "I want you in the center, watching the clouds above us for spotters. Trixie," She pointed out the showmare. "You'll be guiding us in and watching the forest below for anything that might spot us in that direction. Everypony else, grab onto the cloud best you can and push. Understand?"

Nods met her directions. Spitfire walked past her as she said with a smile on her face and pride in her voice, "And you were wondering why we chose you as our alpha."

Twilight just blushed a little as she formed the cloud into a low wall she could use to push. The final leg of their journey was quiet, and agonizingly slow. When the cloud was finally in position over the hill, Twilight took a good look over the edge. There was a small shack-like entrance to a mine. Two minotaurs stood guard over it, but no other creature was in sight. Neither minotaur looked to be very large, but they were armed with spears and shields.

Carefully examining them with her sensor, Twilight nodded and motioned the others close. "Alright, here's the plan. Rainbow, you and Fluttershy are gonna hang back at the entrance, while the rest of us go in-"

"What? You mean you don't want the most awesome pony in Equestria fighting at your side?" Dash asked in a vicious whisper.

Twilight calmed her down with a placating gesture. "I do, but Cheerilee may be hurt; and I'll want the _fastest_ pony in Equestria and the best suited amongst us to care for her and take her to Ponyville General if that's the case." Her sensor looked to the side and she blushed. "You see, she's pregnant, and I don't want to take _any_ chances with our foal."

Her friends' eyes widened at this news, except for Pinkie-Pie's. "Whoa, seriously?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Yah shore didn' waste any time, did'ja?" Applejack put in.

Pinkie-Pie Danced in place. "IknewitIknewitIknewit!"

Twilight held out her hooves to ask for calmness. "Easy, girls. This is neither the time, nor the place. We can celebrate later. Right now, we have to rescue Cheerilee. Now, as I was saying," she said with a sigh. "Rainbow and Fluttershy wait outside and follow us in two minutes later. I'll put marks on the walls so you can find the way. Spitfire, Trixie and I will take the point position, with the rest following closely. While we make a ruckus, you two sneak her out of there and get her to the hospital. Everypony know your jobs?" A chorus of nods greeted her. "Good. Now let's get down there and take care of those guards before they raise the alarm."

As one, eight ponies fell through the cloud and spread their wings in a stoop on their prey. They silently fell upon the minotaurs, their surprise complete. Before they could even act, the ponies had laid them flat, without so much as a bruise raised amongst them. The attackers circled around, following the lavender winged unicorn's lead, and landed softly in front of the mine's entrance.

Twilight pointed towards Dash and Fluttershy, then tapped the ground twice. They nodded in reply, and the rest quietly trotted into the mine. Lighting proved to be no problem, as the tunnel was well lit, side passages left dark. Twilight led them on, but froze upon hearing a voice screaming.

"Answer me! You think your perfect Princess is going to rescue you? Well, I can tell you, it. Will. Not. HAPPEN!" Silence answered the tirade.

Twilight crept up and peeked around the corner. She saw two griffons and three minotaurs in a central hub. One of the minotaurs, the largest, was leaning against a table, smirking at the scene in the center of the carved cavern. A second minotaur and a griffon were off to the side as well, holding on to each other, looking very afraid. The last griffon, who matched Big Mac's description, and minotaur flanked either side of a lump on the ground.

The lump moved, and Twilight gasped quietly as Cheerilee sat up. Small scratches covered her body and face, and she sported a black eye. A small trickle of blood leaked from her mouth, but she reacted to none of that. She just stared straight ahead, a blank expression on her face.

Twilight trembled with rage. She shook so badly, that Spitfire leaned around. "What's wro-" she whispered, but stopped. Her face paled at the sight of the mare she had grown to like. _How could someone do this to a pony so kind, so..._

She was at a loss for words, but her surprise was complete when Twilight charged into the room, yelling at the top of her lungs. The captors turned to her in equal surprise, standing stock still. Bolts of energy sprayed the room from the unicorn's horn, striking all non-ponies at least once, sending them all sprawling. She stood over the still Cheerilee protectively as her assailants fell to the ground stunned.

She turned to her lover with her sensor, and reared back in surprise. _This isn't Cheerilee! This is..._ Examining her more carefully, Twilight saw the lines of magic coursing through her, only these weren't the normal lines of magic that all earth ponies held; this was a strange, unknown magic. _These spells are what one would use to... No!_

"You MONSTERS!" Twilight roared at them, tears streaming down her face as they leaked from under her blindfold. As the foalnappers rose groggily, Twilight's horn glowed and enveloped her whole body in a lavender aura. Her eyes glowed white, burning away the blindfold in a torrent of energy. Her voice took on an unearthly tone and volume, echoing eerily in the cavern and giving her an odd, endless quality to it. Though her lips did not move, everyone could hear her clearly. "What have you _done_ to her?" she shouted. "For the wrongs you have committed today, there can be no forgiveness. Accept your judgment!"

All five of the foalnappers' eyes met hers and they froze in fear. "You shall have eternity to ruminate over your crime! You shall beg for the release of death, but it will be denied! In time, I _may_ forgive you; just pray that it is within _my_ lifetime." Four of the attackers tore their gazes away from her as they felt a stiffness spreading up from their lower extremities. Looking down, they saw their skin turning gray and rough. The petrification continued upward, until it reached their peaks, leaving behind contorted statues of the creatures they once were.

Twilight casually stepped over Cheerilee, as Spitfire and Trixie ran in. "Twilight, what's going on? The others are just standing there crying, and-" Trixie's question died in her throat as they took in the scene before them.

The librarian stepped before Ava, menace oozing from her every action. "Tell me what you've done to her, and I promise to send you to your imprisonment quickly." She gestured with a nod towards the griffon's companions. "I speak from personal experience when I tell you, that petrification, when done slowly, is _very_ painful."

She stopped her advance when they were nose to beak. "Perhaps I'll begin the stoning process in your lungs. Would you like that? Not being able to breathe, the weight crushing the organs beneath them." Twilight poked her in the chest, just above the breastbone. "Or perhaps with your heart, if there is such a shriveled thing in your foul body. I've read that it's like a heart attack, only _much_ harder to recover from." She circled around the griffon. "Or maybe I should just petrify your muscles, take you up to a great height and drop you? I'll even return your shattered muscles to flesh so that you can _feel_ them afterward."

Twilight stopped her pacing in front of the sweating griffoness. "I'll ask you only once; and if I don't like your answer, things will get... _ugly_. Where. Is. My. MARE?"

Ava, who had survived many conflicts, had clawed her way up from the bottom of one of the toughest griffon gangs around, sobbed. "She's right there! You walked right past her!"

Twilight pointed at the mare, shouting "That is _not_ my Cheerilee!" Her horn glowed and she pulled apart the arcane matrix holding it together. "Cheerilee" stopped all pretenses of life. Her chest stopped moving with each breath, her eyes became dull and lifeless, and all color took on the hue of red clay.

Still pointing at the imposter, Twilight shrieked, "_That_ is a clay golem! An automaton! A simulacrum! A base duplicate! A counterfeit sham! A construct designed to _imitate_ life! That! Is not! My! CHEERILEE!" She stopped long enough to catch her breath, heedless of the spittle she had just sprayed on the whimpering griffon. "Now!" she said when she had regained a semblance of control, "You have precisely ten seconds to tell me what you did with her."

"I don't know-"

"WRONG! ANSWER!" The light emanating from Twilight's eyes grew in intensity as her mind scoured Ava's for any sign of knowledge of what happened to the teacher. When she was satisfied that nothing more was to be learned there, she turned her to stone with a contemptuous wave of a hoof.

Her adrenaline spent, Twilight collapsed to the floor of the cavern and wept. Almost immediately, Trixie and Spitfire were at her side, cradling and whispering soothing words in her ears.

(\ /)

( . .)

*(")(")

The guards had rounded up the last of the escaped creatures, helping Aura to put the Manticore back into his cage. He walked in, calmly as you please, the aged griffoness petting his head, and uttering soothing words.

The guards took a headcount, doing what they could to help the doctors tend to the wounded. Everyone suddenly stopped when, with a fantastic _**BOOM**_, the sun decided to land in the middle of Ponyville Park.

Even the dragons scattered, and parted around the park, giving it a wide berth. Ponies flew to the corners, seeking cover from this new threat. The guards formed a large circle around this new arrival, which was burning the grass beneath it, a large polearm floating at the ready next to it. What surprised everypony, was that the guards faced _away_ from this blindingly bright creature, rather than towards it. One stepped forward, though not _too_ closely, and bowed low. "Your Highness."

"Lieutenant," came Celestia's voluminous, yet carefully modulated reply. "Where is she?"

At the first word, ponies dispersed, running for cover more substantial. The guards, who remained on station, were shaken by their diarch's tone. The stallion who first addressed her licked his quickly chapping lips. "We- we don't know, your Highness. She ordered a local pony to gather us and rescue the townsponies from the escaped creatures, then disappeared. None of us has seen her since."

Celestia's eyes narrowed at he guard, who shifted around nervously. "Bring me the last pony to see her," she said, her voice even _more_ tightly modulated.

From behind a row of bleachers, Big Mac strode out, and walked towards the guard, but could not approach as closely from the intense waves of heat coming from the alicorn. Celestia regarded him, then softened her gaze just a little. "When and where did you last see her?" she asked in clipped tones.

Big Mac bowed to her and pointed at the ground at his hooves. "Right here, Your Highnessness. Ah told her th' foalnappin' happened at mah cart, yonder." He pointed down the aisle towards the left. "Ah'm guessin' they went there to save 'er." He would have resumed chewing his stalk of wheat, but found that it had charred, leaving a bad taste in his mouth.

Celestia's eyes widened. **"FOAL-"** She stopped herself as her voice rose unexpectedly. _I must be more careful. One slip-up, and this poor pony will be reduced to ashes._ "Foalnapped?" she asked in a clipped voice.

Pulling his hooves away from his ears, Mac nodded. "Miz Cheer'lee, Your Grace. Stole by a griffon."

Celestia's heart raced. _Oh, no. This is all my- No. Now is not the time for recriminations. Rescue first; accept blame later._ "Which way was she taken?"

The farmer pointed off in a direction directly towards the Everfree forest.

_Why does every bad thing in our lives revolve around that blasted forest?_ Without another word, Celestia flapped once, rocketing off the ground. Another flap had her flying towards the forest, faster than all but the speediest of pegasi.


	10. Chapter 10

**I WOULD DO ANYTHING FOR LOVE**

* * *

Chapter 10: Sundown

* * *

Cheerilee groggily opened her eyes with a groan. _What happened? I-_ Her inner thoughts were disrupted when she tried to pick her head up off of the floor, but found it held fast. A clink caught her attention and she looked back to her left at her forehooves and saw them tethered to a rough rock floor with thick iron chains. With great effort, she lifted her head from the floor and saw a chain underneath, presumably running up to a thick collar she could now feel on her neck. A quick glance at the walls revealed them to be rough hewn, and dotted with gemstone

"Awake at last?" The teacher's eyes shot over to her right and she saw a pegasus mare similarly weighted down. An iron band encircled her barrel, restricting her wings to their folded position, and she looked like she had lost a fight with a mountainside. "Are you okay? I was worried when he brought you in; you looked to be in terrible shape."

A sudden pain in her head made her wince, but Cheerilee rode it out, looking back at her cellmate through pain-filled eyes. "_I_ look bad? You obviously haven't seen a mirror lately," she retorted.

The pegasus looked back at all the bruises and cuts marring her lilac coat with a sad expression. "Yeah, I guess I put up too much of a fight. Black Diamond doesn't like resistance. I'm Cloudchaser, by the way."

Cheerilee smiled at her sympathetically. "I know. I've seen you and your marefriend around town. Glitter, wasn't it?"

"Flitter," she replied, a genuine smile breaking through. "Better not let her hear you call her that. She _hates_ it when ponies do that."

"Do you know what we're doing here?" Cheerilee asked.

Cloudchaser rolled her eyes. "All too well, unfortunately. You see, I was captured in the woods and brought here to that maniac by _timberwolves_ of all things. He put me under some sort of hypnosis and found out that I saw you being taken by a griffon. I guess you could say that it's kinda my fault you're even here." She grimaced apologetically. "Sorry about that. Luckily, he doesn't know how to do that very well or something, because I broke free almost right after that. Anyway, you're not even the one he's after. You, my mare, are bait," she said with obvious distaste.

The maroon mare's eyes went wide. "Bait? Me? Whatever for?"

"To capture the worst pony of all time, of course!"

Cheerilee and Cloudchaser turned to the passageway to see what could only vaguely be called a diamond dog. His pelt was a jet black, but sparkled in the torchlight like millions of tiny diamonds. He was taller than any diamond dog, and though well muscled, had the svelte look of a lean hunter. The collar on his neck was studded with gems of all colors and types, and he wore a vest of expensive silks sewn with more gems. Rings encircled each finger; the gold, silver, and platinum of the bands bejeweled with precious stones. However, it was his eyes that chilled the pony captives to the bone. There was so much hate in his eyes, so much malice, it was like looking into an abyss of scorn and enmity.

The diamond dog walked up to the bound earth pony and loomed over her. "You," he said, touching the tip of one claw to her nose and drawing blood, "will be the one to draw the most hated of ponies to me, so that I may _end_ her." His voice had a deep, rumbling quality to it that sounded like stone grating on stone. "Then with her gone, I will tear the pony lands apart and take every single jewel stolen by ponies!" He grinned at her, showing off his gem-like teeth. "I may even let you live to witness it."

Cheerilee lunged at him, attempting to headbutt him, but was brought up short by the cumbersome collar and chain on her neck. Black Diamond growled angrily and cuffed the mare solidly. Cheerilee staggered and fell back to the floor, her vision spinning. Being struck by him was like being hit with a sack of rocks.

"Leave her alone!" Cloudchaser shouted.

Black Diamond turned to her and barked shrilly, "Pony doesn't tell me what to do! _I_ tell pony what to do!" His voice lost some of its deep timbre, sounding more like what a diamond dog should. He leaped over the the pegasus and punched her in the face. "Ponies! Don't! Give! Orders!" With each word, he kicked Cloudchaser, raining down blows. He stood over her suddenly still form, breathing heavily.

Calm returned, he turned back to Cheerilee and grabbed her chin to force her to meet his gaze. The dazed mare look at him with contempt and fear. Black Diamond grinned at her again. "Don't worry. I didn't go to the trouble of stealing you from that foolish griffon and replacing you with a decoy, just to kill you now." His voice had returned to its gravelly overtone. His grip on her tightened, drawing blood where his claws dug into her skin. "No. That will come _after_ I kill Twilight Sparkle."

(\ /)

( . .)

*(")(")

A gray blur moved through the forest like a ghost. In the day's waning light, she became even harder to distinguish. As a simple recruit, she had been taught the basics and the value of inconspicuousness. Now, she raced through the underbrush, silent and quick enough that the small animals didn't even take note of her presence until long after she had gone.

Leaping up to a high tree branch, Plain Sight looked around to regain her bearings and look for pursuit or enemies. _Bucking Hay, Minuette. This_ better _be the way they went, or I'm going to have your stripes._ She took a moment to scan the woods and noticed a small clearing ahead.

Instead of going back down to the ground, she leapt from branch to branch, never touching the ground until she arrived at the small meadow. The spymaster searched the ground, stopping when she came across a drop of crimson. She leaned down and sniffed, then licked at it, smacking her lips. _Definitely blood. Fairly fresh, too._ Searching around some more, she came across a trio of small furrows dug into the earth. Plain Sight stepped carefully as she approached so as to disturb as little as possible. She put her hoof next to the furrows experimentally. _Looks about right for a griffon of the size described._

Plain Sight continued looking, and was surprised when a hoof sank into some soft earth up to her ankle. She withdrew the appendage and considered the hole. She tapped the edge of the hole, causing more of it to collapse, leaving a cavity. _Something's not right here._

The earth pony began digging at the edges of the hole, widening it until a hole large enough to swallow a pony whole was revealed. _It looks like someone tried to quickly cover this hole with a thin veneer or packed earth. But how did..._ Shaking her head, she inspected the hole. _It looks like there's a tunnel down here. Does this have anything to do with Cheerilee's foalnapping?_

An odd, dark coloration at the bottom caught her attention, so she nimbly jumped down into the seven-hoof deep hole. Plain Sight sniffed and tasted the stained earth, spitting out the foul dirt. _Blood. They said that a griffon took her, so it's very likely that she would have had scratches if not gashes from struggling._ She looked down the tunnel which appeared to be very stable. _But why would a griffon take her into tunnels like these?_

Plain Sight felt the unfamiliar tinge of panic as indecision pricked at her mind. _Do I follow this mysterious tunnel which may or may not have anything to do with the foalnapping, or do I continue on in the direction Minuette saw them going?_ She bit her lower lip, worrying it between her teeth.

A moment passed. Then another. Disgusted with herself, the gray mare slapped herself and started carefully down the tunnel.

(\ /)

( . .)

*(")(")

News Flash kicked the garbage can across the room, scattering empty film rolls, paper towels, and other detritus across the now lit darkroom. "Buck, buck, buck, BUCK! How the _buck_ did all our film get destroyed? Even th' unused rolls 'r garbage!"

Buried Lead patted her pink and blue stripped mane. "You fell asleep during journalism history class, didn't you?"

"Th' Hay yah talkin' 'bout, Bury?" the irate unicorn yelled.

"I'm talking about the yellow journalism incident about fifty years ago. Way back in... '48, I think?" He tilted his head and looked to be accessing an old, rarely used memory. "Anyway, some photographers got a little... frisky, and tried to sneak into the Princess's bath. They say that she turned into a living piece of the sun. When they got back to their darkrooms, those that managed to hold onto their cameras, anyway, they found all of their film ruined. Every single frame was blank."

News Flash looked at him incredulously. "Yah really think that's what happened? Ol' Solar-butt _became_ a sun?" The pegasus nodded at her. "That... has got to be... the _dumbest_ excuse Ah've evah heard!" She flipped an empty tray over with a satisfying clatter. "She's a _pony_ for corn's sake; not some sorta phys'cal man'festation of a celestial object! She cain't _become_ th' sun!"

"_Somepony's_ been using that thesaurus I gave them for Hearth's Warming," Buried lead muttered under his breath. In a placating tone, he said, "Well, that's sorta what some scientists are thinking that she is, actually. Credible ones, too; not just the looney kook fringe, either."

News Flash looked at him like he had just grown a second head in front of her eyes. "Tha's... Tha's jus' _stoopid_! How would that even _work_?" The cream mare began pacing back and forth in front of her oldest friend. "What, th' sun got bored one day, and jus' 'cided to come visitin'? Hasn' anypony gone an' asked her, 'Oh, by th' way. Are yah th' sun made equine?' It... no! Jus' no, Bury. Tha's jus' askin' to take too much on faith! Where's th' evidence?"

Buried lead shook his head. "Of _course_ nopony's gone and asked her that. The theory is based on observable data. I'll show you the report when we get back to Canterlot; but that's not important right now. What matters is that her radiation aura was strong enough to ruin our film, taking a day's worth of pictures with it." The green stallion sighed bitterly. "The fact is Newsie, that I'm down to two rolls of film, and you're down to three that we had tucked away here in this wagon. The way I see it, we could either go back to Canterlot now, or we can stick around, and hope we can snap a picture or two that will satisfy both our bosses."

The unicorn journalist looked stricken at the thought. "Ah... Ah cain't go back emptyhoofed! Ah'm walkin' a fine line with'm as it is! If'n Ah go back without somethin' to give 'em, Ah may as well sign mah own termination papahs!"

Placing a hoof on her shoulder, Buried Lead calmed her down. "Alright, Newsie, alright. Stay calm and carry on. We'll stick around and get our pictures." His gaze shifted over to his camera on the counter. "We'll just have to be more careful about the pictures we _do_ take."

(\ /)

( . .)

*(")(")

As the sun set behind the horizon, Celestia's flight slowed to a crawl. Panting, she settled on the ground and collapsed on shaky legs. Sweat beaded on her once more alabaster coat, and her pastel-hued mane and tail returned to their normal state briefly before turning entirely pink and motionless. She lay in the dirt, gasping for breath, just within the demesnes of the Everfree forest. The halberd fell to the ground with a thud, neatly clipping off a lock of pink mane.

_Too slow. I was too slow..._ Tears fell down Celestia's cheeks. Tears of frustration and despair, but mostly tears of fear. Fear for the pony for whom she had cared for most of the filly's life. _No! I can't give up! I_ won't _give up; not while I draw breath!_ With fantastic effort, the alicorn fought past the stiffness of tired muscles and exhaustion to extend a hoof forward. She dragged herself onward across the rough, rock-filled ground, heedless of the dirt and plant matter that became tangled in her mane and tail. _I'm coming, Twilight! Hold on, I'm-_

_"'Tia? Art thou well?"_ Luna's voice broke in on her thoughts, worry plain in her tone.

_"Lulu? Where are you? Twilight needs us."_ There was no recrimination in her voice, but Celestia could feel her sister recoil as if physically struck.

_"We hath just arrived in Ponyville. Where art thou?"_

_"The Everfree forest where I've been chasing them down. Wait, how did you get there so fast?"_ Celestia was so shocked, that she even stopped crawling forward.

_"We teleported. 'Tis why We waited for Moonrise that We wouldst have the wherewithal to arrive with all due haste._

Celestia would have facehoofed had she the energy to waste. _"Would you do me a favor then, and come here. I can point you in the direction Twilight was going so you can get there before she's hurt."_

With a white flash of light, Luna appeared next to her. "'Tia, what is- SISTER!" She shouted when she took in her sister's state. "What hath transpired? When We find the villain who wouldst deign to harm my sister so, We'll-"

"Luna!" Celestia shouted, then immediately regretted her volume. She swallowed to wet her parched throat before saying, "This is _my_ fault. I let my emotions get away from me, and ran off half cocked. Now, I've exhausted my reserves too much to do more than crawl; and with the sun down, I have nothing left in me. _You_ must go to her."

The night mare nodded. "Indeed, We shall, but first, allow us to call forth thy shieldwardens."

"Luna, there's no time to waste on-"

Luna ignored her and turned her eyes skyward to the ever darkening night. Spotting movement, she put a hoof to her mouth and let forth an ear-piercing whistle. The creature in the sky halted and the alicorn waved. Flying down towards them, a pegasus of the Solar Guard landed before them and bowed. "Your Highnesses! We've been searching everywhere for you!"

"At ease, good soldier," Luna said, bidding him to rise. "We needeth thee to fetch thy brethren and escort Her Highness back to thy fold."

The stallion rose to his hooves and pulled out a small pouch from his belt. "At once, Your Highness. Please, take this water. I shall return shortly with help."

Luna took the pouch in her magic and smiled at the guard. "We thank thee for thy thoughtfulness." When he had flown away, she opened the waterskin and brought it to her sister's lips. "Prithee, slake thy thirst on this, whilst We seek out thy faithful student, forthwith."

Celestia greedily drank up the liquid like it was life itself. She nearly turned the skin inside out, trying to get every last drop out. A metallic scraping sound drew her attention, and she saw Luna levitating the halberd before her, giving it a few experimental swings. "Keep her safe, Luna. You know what she means to me; to _us both_."

"Whosoever harms a hair on her little head shall know the wrath of the heavens, and despair." The hard look in Luna's eyes sent a shiver down Celestia's spine.

(\ /)

( . .)

*(")(")

"There!" shouted Twilight. She winged over, dropping altitude and speed as she approached the meadow she had seen the pheromone trail briefly stop earlier. She landed in the clearing with her five friends and two lovers gently.

"But, Twi, yah still ain't explained _how_ yah know they didn't know that Cheerilee were fake," Applejack said as she came to a stumbling landing.

The librarian turned to regard the farmer, her newly healed eyes glittering dangerously. "I read her _mind_, Applejack. I quite literally, experienced everything she did; _everything_. I can tell you right now, that _she_ believed that she had taken the real Cheerilee to that cave. There was only one spot where she lost sight and touch with her from the moment she foalnapped her, and it was right here in this clearing," she said, pointing at the ground with a hoof.

Returning her gaze to the grassy field, she added, "How that golem managed to smell like Cheerilee, let alone get switched so fast is beyond me right now, but I'm sure we'll find the answers when we get to the bottom of all this. Now let's spread out, and look around." She took a step, then paused, declaring, "Just be sure to stay within sight of at least two other ponies. We don't want to get picked off like in some stupid horror movie."

The ponies moved in, treading carefully, and keeping an eye on their surroundings as well as the ground below them. So it was Fluttershy who cried out, "Twilight, come look at this!"

Quick as a flash, she was surrounded by friends as they all peered into the hole uncovered earlier by Plain Sight. "What do you think, Twilight? Was she taken down here?" Dash asked.

"Ava didn't remember this hole, but..." The sensor made a reappearance, again pink, and the unicorn nodded. "Cheerilee's pheromones are definitely down here, along with something else's. It's odd, but..." Her sensor turned light blue before dissipating with a cry of pain from the caster. "Augh! Not again!"

"Twilight!" they all shouted, Trixie and Spitfire on either side of her, holding her tight.

The librarian covered her eyes, then blinked them open cautiously several times. "Phew! It's alright, everypony. I almost blinded myself again trying to decipher a magical aura. Luckily, I was able to cancel the spell before anything bad happened."

Trixie lightly punched her in the shoulder. "You need to stop doing that! You almost gave Trixie a heart attack!"

Looking properly chastened, Twilight replied, "Sorry. I detected a magical aura on the periphery of my vision, so I tried to find out what it was. It's a lingering aura, so it's fading away."

Spitfire looked concerned. "If it was strong enough to blind you as a fading aura, that does not bode well for us, or Cheerilee."

"No Spitfire, it does not bode well for whoever took her, because I intend to return home _with_ all three of my marefriends," Twilight returned. As she hopped down into the tunnel, she muttered to herself, "And let's not forget making sure they never do this ever again."

(\ /)

( . .)

*(")(")

As she ducked around a corner, yet another crystal golem lumbered past Plain Sight. Luckily, they were all very different in appearance, but that just meant she could keep track of their depressingly large numbers. She leaned further into the alcove created by the crystal outgrowths, as she heard a different sort of creature approaching. The sound was just as solid as the golems, but lacked the same tinkling of glass clacking together. She was surprised when a well-dressed, black diamond dog-like creature rounded the bend, nose held high.

"I _smell_ you pony. Your _stink_ makes me want to retch." He looked around as he sniffed the air, unable to pinpoint her by that alone. "You want my gems too, don't you? Just like all ponies, they _all_ come for my gems." Black Diamond grabbed a crystal growing from the wall, and wrenched it loose. Holding it as a club, he paced back and forth in the tunnel, tapping the club into his other paw as he did.

Moving at a snail's pace, the spymaster slowly gathered herself, preparing to spring forward. When her target walked past, she leapt at him, forehooves first, aiming right for his head, and silent as the night. He _must_ have heard her, though, as he whirled around, swinging the club as he spun. Plain Sight hooked her forelegs onto the club instead, and swung her hind legs up, connecting solidly with his jaw.

_Buck! What is he made of? I think I split my hoof on his jaw!_ The gray mare kicked off his head with her good rear hoof, somersaulting backwards into a landing several hooves behind him.

With his thundering footsteps pounding in her ears, Black Diamond charged at the much smaller mare, pulling back a paw to swipe at her. As he swung, she dodged out of the way, letting him leave a trail of four parallel furrows deep into the rock floor. "Pony will stay away from my gems!" he shrieked, his voice once again losing it's menacing rumble for a teeth-grindingly high pitch.

Plain Sight rolled into a running start, making a sharp turn in the cramped cavern as she did. As she was about to collide with the wall, she began running _along_ the wall, using her momentum to keep her from falling. She ran along the curve of the roughly hewn walls, charging back at Black Diamond, who was still trying to turn around fast enough to keep sight of the swift mare. Plain Sight was quicker though, and leapt off the wall while holding her spine straight, she rammed herself head-first into the dog's side.

This sent Black Diamond staggering, and Plain Sight flying, when his wildly flailing arm clipped her. The gray mare lurched to her hooves and shook her head to clear it. She looked to her opponent to see him glaring at her and holding his side. Again, they lunged at each other. Black Diamond struck out with his club again, but the gray mare just wasn't there. At the last second, she dropped to the ground and slid into his legs, sweeping them out from under him.

With a thunderous crash, Black Diamond hit the floor. Plain Sight rose to her hooves again, brushing some of the dirt from her forelegs. "I got news for you, whoever you are. I'm not here for your precious gems. And even if I _was_, there doesn't appear to be anything _you_ could do about it."

All Black Diamond heard was "here for your gems" and "nothing you could do about it". He let loose a low growl that seemed to be echoed by the cavern itself. He slowly rose to his hind legs and faced the intruder, his eyes literally glowing with rage. Bringing his crystalline club up between his paws, he crushed it with one fluid motion; then ran at the mare again, this time so fast, that he surprised her.

Plain Sight tried to get out of his reach, but was too slow. As she turned to flee, he grabbed a rear leg in a crushingly vice-like grip and picked her bodily up from the ground. Without wasting any motion, Black Diamond swung her around until she met with the rough, crystal-studded wall. The first strike dazed her and knocked the breath from her lungs. The second saw her lose three teeth and break a foreleg when she tried to cushion the blow. The third, she lost consciousness and broke two ribs. The fourth, fifth, and sixth blows weren't even felt by her, and the seventh was just added to make sure she'd stay down.

His wrath sated, Black Diamond dragged the bloody and broken mare through the tunnels until he came to his other prisoners. Cheerilee and Cloudchaser looked up at his entrance and gasped when he unceremoniously dumped the gray earth mare to the ground next to Cheerilee. Both were too stunned by her appearance to say or do anything as he casually gestured and chains erupted from the ground and encircled manacles around her hooves, neck, and body.

"Monster!" Cheerilee shouted.

"You'll pay for this, Black Diamond! If you think the Princess is going to let you capture and torture ponies for your own sick amusement, you've got another thing coming!" Cloudchaser added, wiping away a dribble of blood coming down from the corner of her mouth.

Black Diamond turned to them with a smirk, his eyes briefly turning slitted and draconic before returning to normal. "You would do well to remember who you are talking to, _ponies_. You wouldn't want to end up like her, would you?" he asked, gesturing to Plain Sight.

Both mares tried to jump to their hooves, but were restrained by the chains that bound them. Black Diamond laughed as he left the three of them alone.

When she was sure that they were alone, Cloudchaser whispered, "Boss? You okay there?"

"Boss?" Cheerilee whispered. "You work for her?"

When it was obvious that Plain Sight wouldn't be waking anytime soon, Cloudchaser slumped to the ground, defeated. "Yeah. We're part of the detail charged with keeping the Elements safe and under observation." She snorted and gestured to themselves. "Not doing too good a job of it so far."

"Oh, come on," Cheerilee whispered encouragingly, "Surely you've stopped plenty of threats before they became a problem."

Cloudchaser rolled her eyes. "Of course, but this isn't our first failure." She sighed as if weighed down with the weight of all of Equestria. "Just our most spectacular." The teacher looked at her with worry. "And now, all six of them, and likely Twilight's other two lovers will be walking into this trap. We _really_ dropped the ball this time."

"Belay th't noise." The low, broken whisper shattered the silence, causing Cheerilee and Cloudchaser to turn to regard Plain Sight.

"Boss?" Cloudchaser whispered.

Plain Sight opened a swelling eye to look at her cellmates. She hacked up some blood from her mouth as she tried to talk and said, "N't ded y't. St'll 'ope."

"Please stop talking," Cheerilee pleaded with tears in her eyes. "You need to heal; talking will only make it worse."

The spymaster regarded her with affection. "Hey, Teach. Glad t'see y'made... th'cut. Sh' _needs_ sme'pny like yuh." She coughed again, spitting up a gobbet of something bloody and chunky. She looked down at it and smiled. "Huh. W'nder if th't's 'port'nt."

"Sweet Celestia, that's enough!" Cheerilee shouted. Tears ran down her cheeks and pooled on the ground below her face. "Just hang on! When Twilight gets here, she'll set everything right! I promise, but you _have_ to hold on!"

"S'okay, Teach," Plain Sight mumbled weakly. "S'nuff t'know... she's in good... hooves..." The gray mare closed her eyes and sighed with a smile.

(\ /)

( . .)

*(")(")

"Prince-consort Shining Armor III, you sit down this instant before you reopen that wound!"

The white stallion rolled his eyes, but complied with the order nonetheless. The tone in Cadance's voice would brook no argument, and he wasn't about to see her try to _make_ him follow her command; not in front of his own troops anyway.

To their credit, only one Sergeant actually smiled, but he was an old friend and mentor who had trained him from a cadet, so nothing was said. He looked to his aide-decamp, and asked, "Any signs of Princess Celestia or my sister yet?"

"Her Highness has been found, and a detachment of pegasi are winging out to her as we speak," the unicorn lieutenant replied business-like. "Unfortunately, no sign of Lady Twilight has been found as of yet. We have squadrons of pegasi searching by air, and unicorns through clairvoyance, but the Everfree forest is extremely large, and cover is dense."

"Tell them to to send a detachment towards the Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters," Shining said with a nod. "Trouble seems to gather at that place like ants at a picnic." The stallion saluted and left. He looked at the rest of his command team and said, "You all know what to do. If there's any new developments, report back." He returned their salute, then slumped when the last of them left his tent. He turned to his ever-present wife. "Cady..."

Cadance enveloped him in a hug, letting him sniffle into her coat. "It'll be alright, Shiny," she cooed. "Twilight's a big girl, now. Not only does she have the Elements with her, but her marefriends as well. You know _they'll_ do their best to keep her safe."

Shining sniffed once more, saying, "I just wish it was _me_ out there instead of her. She doesn't deserve this. Not my LSBFF."

Cadance patted his head as he rested it over her shoulder. "I know, Shiny. I wish it was me instead too." She sighed and kissed his neck. "It just seems that fate has decreed that she's to have an 'interesting life'."

"She hasn't even taken them to see our parents yet. Mom and Dad don't even know that she's seeing anypony yet," The Captain lamented. "Just the other day, Mom was asking me when I thought Twily would finally settle down. Nearly choked on my scone."

The Princess moved to look him in the eye. "There, you see? She _has_ to come back, because she still needs to tell your parents. When was the last time she tried to keep something from them?"

Smiling at the sweet memory, Shining replied, "Yeah. She tried so hard to hide the fact that she had stopped for ice cream on her way back from school. She never even noticed the chocolate chip stuck to her cheek." He grinned at his wife. "She didn't even last five minutes under Mom's stare before confessing."

"To be fair, your mother _can_ be intimidating, especially when you only come up to her knee," Cadance retorted.

A commotion from outside the tent drew their attention as the flap was raised. In walked a bedraggled Celestia, looking more worn out than either of them had ever seen.

"Auntie!" Cadance exclaimed as she rushed to her side. Immediately, her horn lit up to cast a healing spell, but the Princess of the Dawn held up a hoof.

"Neigh, Niece. My wounds are minor, and healing as we speak." She walked over to a pitcher of ice water and drank the whole thing, ice and all." Save your healing in case it's needed when Twilight and the others return," she said with a gasp.

Shining approached her cautiously. "Princess? Did you see any sign of Twilight?"

"I'm afraid not, Shining," Celestia said with a shake of her head. "Luna is on the trail, though, and with the stars and moon to guide her, I am confident that she _will_ be found." It took all of her willpower to not try to contact Luna telepathically and ask her for new information.


	11. Chapter 11

I WOULD DO ANYTHING FOR LOVE

* * *

Chapter 11: Pleased to Meet You; Hope You Guessed My Name

* * *

Luna glided over the dark forest, scanning the canopy for any sign of Twilight or any of her friends. She was studiously ignoring a certain structure further into the forest, but its presence was always there, lurking in the back of her mind like a predator waiting to strike. Alighting down in front of an enormous cave entrance, she cleared her throat and called out in the language of the stars, "Hail the cave."

She waited for several moments and was about to call out again when a faint purplish glow could be seen getting brighter. A thunderous cadence could be felt through the ground, more than heard accompanied by a growing pressure within the aether. The glow, sound and pressure all reached a head as an enormous, lumbering creature came into view from the back of the cave. Its massive, purple bulk could barely fit in the cavern, and the great fangs jutting from its maw gave it a fearsome appearance. _"Hail and well met Lady. To what do I owe the pleasure of thy company this night?"_

Luna was taken a bit aback by the Ursa Major's presence. _It always takes us by surprise, her power._ She nodded respectfully to the bear. "Hail and well met. Sooth, We wish t'were pleasure that bringeth us together this eve. It seemeth that our sister's faithful student hath entered the forest, intent on rescuing her lady love. We wouldst fight at her side, yet alack, We cannot find her amidst the foliage. Hast thou seen her?"

The bear tilted her massive, house-sized head. _"The small, purple one? The one that returned my wayward child? You mean your-"_

"Aye. Her," Luna interrupted with a light blush. "Hast thou seen or heard anything of her?"

The Ursa smiled briefly before shaking her head. _"I'm afraid not, Milady. Though, there is something odd going on at thy old home. The energies emanating from there feel... malevolent. It is all I can do to contain it and prevent its spread."_

"We see," Luna replied grimly.

_"One other thing,"_ the Ursa said, startling the mare of the night. She hesitated, trying to find the right words for what she was about to say. _"It has been some time since Sirius and Procyon came around to bother us."_

Luna looked at her blankly for a moment as a feeling of dread settled on her heart. She looked to the sky, and noted two constellations missing. _No, not missing. They're... dark!_ Now invisible to the naked eye, she could still feel the stars in their place through her connection with the night sky; but they burned with a black flame, rendering them indiscernible to the average laypony.

Looking to the Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters, the alicorn felt the dread turn to lead in her stomach.

(\ /)

( . .)

*(")(")

The winding passageway forked again, this time splitting three ways. Twilight closed her eyes, letting the sensor guide her. She looked carefully down all three tunnels and ground her teeth. A low growl escaped her lips as she stomped a hoof into the ground. She felt a hoof settle on her shoulder, and she turned to see Spitfire.

"What's wrong, Hon?" she asked, concern etched into her features.

"I... I lost the trail," she answered dejectedly. "I have no idea which tunnel to take."

"Why don't we take this secret passage?" Seven sets of eyes turned as one to Pinkie-Pie.

Applejack walked up to her saying, "Sugarcube, not every secret tunnel is gonna have a secret passage too. Why bother with that?"

Walking up to the wall next to the pink mare, Rarity carefully examined it. "Actually Applejack, dear, I think there _is_ a secret passage here." She pointed out some to crystal outgrowths with a hoof. "See here? This crystal has been partially covered; very likely by a secret panel."

Rarity pushed against the crystal, and the outline of a door suddenly appeared as it was popped open. Twilight backtracked with her sensor glowing, and a smiled stretched across her face. "I see her scent again! Pinkie, you're a genius!" She kissed the earth pony on the cheek and trotted down the tunnel.

The party pony just smiled and waved her off in a "oh, go on" motion. "Aw, shucks. I'm just doing my part, Twilight."

"Still don't explain how she saw it when the rest of us didn't," Applejack grumbled.

Rainbow Dash shrugged at her. "It's Pinkie-Pie. I ain't gotta explain it."

The group followed the tunnel in silence for many long minutes, until Twilight stopped. Rarity, who happened to be standing next to her whispered, "What's wrong, Darling?"

"I heard something up ahead," the librarian muttered from the side of her mouth. She tilted her head and cocked an ear, trying to catch the sound again. A few seconds later, she definitely heard the sound of many small, metal objects. She looked back at her friend, asking, "Did you hear that?"

Rarity, who had her head and ear cocked too, nodded. "Indeed I did. It almost sounds like... bits?"

"I don't think so," Twilight refuted. "Doesn't quite sound like coins. Definitely metallic, though."

"What's the hold up?" came Dash's harsh whisper.

"Twilight and Rarity heard something up ahead. Something metal," Trixie replied. She perked up in surprise. "Ah! Trixie hears it too!" she quietly exclaimed.

With even more careful stealth, they tip-hoofed forward, minding each step. As they progressed, they noticed a yellow light reflecting off the tunnel walls, and the sound was soon heard by all. It came with a regular rhythm, sounding off every few seconds. Reaching the bend in the tunnel, Twilight carefully peeked around the corner and gasped as she ducked back around. "You're not going to believe this," she said as she faced them.

Putting a hoof to her lips, she beckoned them forward, and all eight of them peeked around the corner. Their eyes widened as they took in the large room. The tunnel they were in emptied out into the room about fifteen or twenty hooves above the floor of the room. A narrow shelf, barely wide enough for a pony to walk, circled the room at their height, connecting with another tunnel on the other side of the room.

The room itself was filled with piles of gold, silver, and copper. Each metal was in its own set of piles, carefully separated from the others. The metal was all raw and unrefined, most of it still locked into its rocky cocoon. Scattered here and there was bit coin and pieces of armor or weapons designed for pony use, glistening amongst all the raw ore. Each pile had to rise high as a pony's eye and spread out quite a bit, meaning that there was literally _tons_ of the precious metals.

Of more immediate concern was the small army of crystalline creatures that continuously filed into and out of the room through a doorway on the lower level. They stayed only long enough to drop off a load of more ore before leaving again. Each creature stood on two legs allowing them to meet a pony's eye level if they stood up straight. They were all composed of different colored crystal, and between that, the shapes, and imperfections, it was easy to tell each apart from the others.

"What n'the Hay are those?" Applejack whispered.

"Crystal golems," Twilight and Dash replied together. They looked at each other and smiled.

"Daring Do and the Crystal Kingdom?" Twilight asked.

Dash smiled back at her. "You know it," she said smugly. "Even _with_ that ridiculous refrigerator scene, it was a decent read."

Trixie quietly huffed. "Trixie hates to break up your book club meeting, but don't we have a mare to rescue?" She saw the hurt on Twilight's face, and immediately regretted her choice of words. "Tr- I- I mean-"

She was silenced by Twilight putting a hoof to her lips gently. "You're right. Trixie. We need to stay focused on Cheerilee." She looked to the others and said, "Let's try skirting the room with the ledge. Just, everypony watch their step." With that, the librarian turned and started on the trail.

The showmare was left with a sick feeling in her chest, like she had kicked a kitten. "But..."

As the others started gently passing her by, Spitfire nuzzled her cheek. "It's alright, Hon. She knows you didn't mean anything by it. She's just worried, too." After a few moments, she said, "Come on," and kissed her on the cheek. She looked back and swayed her hips suggestively, before moving on.

"Mother of Celestia, give that rump a medal."

Trixie turned to see Rainbow Dash eying the Wonderbolt with undisguised lust. With a smirk, she said before leaving, "Look all you want, but remember; she's taken." With a flick of her tail, she set off after the others. Dash and Pinkie gave each other smirks and brought up the rear of the group.

Crossing the room was an exercise in dread-laden tedium. They were too anxious to walk very fast for fear of either slipping and falling into the room filled with golems, or simply alerting the creatures to their presence. So, they took small steps and were very careful to watch where they stepped. Needless to say, this had a real detrimental effect on Fluttershy, and Spitfire, the next pony in line, had to nudge her along several times.

Twilight had almost reached the other passage when Rarity just behind her stepped on some pebbles and skidded a little. It wasn't enough to send her over the narrow ledge, but the sound echoed off of the rock wall, and the Crystal golems halted their actions. The ponies froze, still as statues. The quiet in the room was deafening. Each of the ponies thought that the thudding of their hearts would give them away. Sweat formed on brows, and legs trembled from being held in one position too long.

Fluttershy looked ready to bolt.

…

Applejack silently gulped.

…

Spitfire tensed herself to pounce.

…

Twilight readied a magical bolt of energy designed to shatter glass.

…

Pinkie-Pie inspected the bottom of her hoof in boredom.

…

Trixie brought a flashy spell to mind in case she needed to dazzle them.

…

Rarity repeated a mantra in her head. _I did not just doom us all. I did not just doom us all. I did not just doom us all._

…

Rainbow Dash kept her eyes on Fluttershy in order to catch her _when_ she fell.

…

The crystal golems... started moving, returning to their tasks. A collective mental sigh was given, and the ponies started continued their trek. When they were finally far enough removed from the room that they could no longer hear the metal being piled, they gathered together, and Rarity hung her head in shame. "I... I'm sorry, everypony. I lost my hoofing and almost gave us all away."

"Yeah, what's up with that, Rarity? I expected that from Fluttershy, not you," Rainbow Dash said, then quickly added, "No offense, Flutters."

The butter yellow pegasus hid behind her mane and mumbled, "Oh, um, that's okay, Rainbow. None taken."

"Now, hold on there, Dash," Applejack interjected. "Any one o' us coulda slipped on that there patch of loose rock. Don't go takin' it out on 'er. She's only equine, just like alla us."

Twilight stepped in between them and physically separated the two mares before their argument could build up any steam. "Hey, let's all remember why we're here, okay?" She looked to the pegasus, saying, "Rainbow, Rarity already apologized, so let's just drop it okay?" She turned to Applejack, "AJ, I know she's quote: 'the apple butter on mah toast' end quote, but you know Rainbow didn't mean any insult." Both ponies looked away gruffly. "Now I hate to repeat myself, but we have Cheerilee and perhaps one or two other ponies to rescue, so let's stay on target."

Spitfire reared her head back in surprise. "Wait, 'one or two other ponies'? Who else is down here?"

Twilight shook her head. "I don't know, but every now and then, I can pick up the pheromones of another pony, as well as something very odd. It's definitely equine, but the scent is very hard to pick out. It's almost like it doesn't want to be found. Whatever it is, I don't think it's using magic to hide, though I can't be entirely certain, since I can't track by that right now."

"Is it the lingering aura?" Trixie asked.

The lavender mare sighed. "Sort of. There's that aura I sensed at the entrance, but more to the point, these tunnels were created magically."

"So you mean..." Trixie trailed off.

Nodding, Twilight answered her unasked question. "Yes. Whoever created the golems and these tunnels, _and_ stole Cheerilee from Ava was all the same person." She looked off further down the tunnel, her sensor reappearing light blue once again, but far dimmer. "I can tell because all the magics we've encountered so far bear the same signature. Whoever we're up against, is a master at using earth magic."

She pulled a purple crystal from the wall with her magic. "So this is what we're going to do when we find Cheerilee..."

(\ /)

( . .)

*(")(")

Luna nervously alighted in a glade near the ruins of the ancient castle. Even with a flight of pegasi guards with her, she felt trepidation at returning to the place of her greatest failure. She felt like if she were to just close her eyes, she would be transported to that day over a thousand years ago when she had her final confrontation with her sister. _Neigh! Now is not the time; not when the Elements may have need of us._

Turning to regard the night guard before her, Luna said, "Commander, Vigil We wish thou to keep a squad aloft as spotters as well as emergency couriers. The rest shalt follow us into the ruins." As he turned to relay her orders, she added, "Pray, have a care. We hath good reason to believe that yon castle be patrolled by forces beyond thy capabilities."

He saluted and rattled off his orders to his lieutenant, then rushed to catch up to his Liege. "Your Highness, we are ready to accompany you. We already chased off the timberwolves in the area. Do you know precisely what else we may be facing by any chance?"

"Aye," Luna replied with a nod. "The very stars themselves may very well turn out to be our foes this night." She noted the pegasus's face pale and she smiled at him. "At ease, soldier. While it won't be the Ursa thou surely fears, t'will be bad enow. The dog stars may turn against us. Should that happen, We wish thou to take thy guardsponies, and forge on ahead. _We_ shalt bring the curs to heel, whilst thou proceedeth on to aid Lady Twilight in any manner thou can."

Vigil nodded as he walked beside her. "Yes, Your Highness."

They proceeded on in silence, Luna leading the way through the ruins. They came to the room that once held the Elements, and she paused, remembering her first personal encounter with Twilight. _E'en then, We could feel something special about her. Mayhap Celestia hath the right of it, after all._

Her entourage followed her into the room and spread out to search while she was locked in a battle with her memories. Unseen in the shadows, two pairs of eyes watched them fall out of their orderly position.

Luna came out of her reverie when her hoof came into contact with the pedestal that once supported the Elements of Harmony, now appearing nude without the stones. She looked down and gasped at a large crevice at the base. _Zounds! The catacombs! Why didst we not see it afore?_ She turned to Vigil, urgency in her eyes. "Commander-"

She didn't get any further as she noticed movement from the shadows. Shadows, which in a moonlit night like this, held no mysteries to her. As the enormous star dog leapt from its concealment, right at her, she shoved the pegasus to the side and levitated the halberd up and across, letting the creature's jaws close on _it_ instead of her throat. "Sirius! Heel!"

Unfortunately for her, Sirius seemed to be in no mood for heeding his mistress. The enormous dog was easily twice the size of Celestia; and his long, wolf-like jaws almost reached her, despite the haft of the halberd holding him back. Seeing him now in full moonlight, she could see that indeed, all his stars burned with a black light that actually chilled the air around him.

Luna took advantage of his impediment and soundly whapped him with her wing, causing him to reel back with a great yelp. She kicked the pedestal, knocking it clear across the room and crashing into the crumbling wall. "As we agreed, Commander! Down the hole! Find them, and protect them!"

Without wasting time for acknowledgment, Vigil shouted, "You heard Her Highness! Follow me, soldiers!" He then dived into the holes, following the stairs down.

A second, smaller star dog pounced from another shadow, intent on stopping the pegasi on their mission, but Luna vaulted into her path and knocked her away with a rearing backhoof. "Neigh, whelp! Thy fight layeth with us!" Her horn glowed briefly, and the hole irised shut until it was too small for either of the star creatures to enter.

Luna paced around them, trying to find an opening that she could exploit without leaving herself open to attack. "Sirius! Procyon! What hath happened to thee? Dost thee not recognize thy mistress?"

_"We do, Milady, but our alpha commands us to guard this place from all ponies,"_ Sirius answered. Each dog paced around her, trying to get into her blind spot in the rear as he talked._"Would that we were not enemies, but we must follow our alpha's commands above all else."_

_"Enough, mate!"_ Procyon growled. _"You know what the alpha said would happen if we fail in our duties again. I don't know about you, but I'd rather not face his 'tender mercies' again if I can help it."_

"We can still help thee," Luna said, maintaining the halberd's position between her and Sirius while trying to keep Procyon in sight. "We art the mistress of the night. The stars art our domain. Pray, allow us to render aid unto thee!"

_"I've heard enough!"_ Procyon shouted as she leapt at Luna, trying to bite her rump. She instead closed her maw on her own tongue, as Luna bucked out, catching the star beast directly in the face with her powerful hind legs. Procyon fell with a yelp and lay still on the ground, unconscious.

Luna turned back to see Sirius as he pounced, saying, _"Please forgive us, Milady."_ As he did so, Luna swung the hammer end of her weapon, catching him in the side of his chest, and sending him flying to the ground.

The alicorn shifted position to keep both beasts in her sight. _"Sister, dost thou hear us?"_

_"Luna? Are you alright? Have you found her yet? Is_ she _alright?_

_"We art fine,"_ Luna replied. _"Alas, We have not yet found her, though We still pursue the trail. We-"_ Luna stopped when she saw Sirius rise again with a shake of his massive head. He growled at her, then ran up to her, lunging for a bite; but was stopped short again by the halberd swinging at him.

_"Luna! What's wrong?"_

_"We shalt have to return to this conversation anon, sister. We art quite preoccupied."_ Luna was so distracted with her telepathic conversation, Sirius surprised her with a quick darting of his head and bit down on to a foreleg. The night mare gave a screech of pain, and flailed at him with her wings. Unfortunately, the angle was such that much of the power she expended was wasted motion.

Remembering her weapon, Luna levitated the halberd at her foe, smacking him repeatedly on the head with the flat of the blade. Each blow pealed out in the ruins like the ringing of a church bell. It took nearly a dozen strikes before he let go of her leg and fell to the ground senseless. The Princess inspected her injury to find that not only was she bleeding rather profusely, but the tendons were severed, making it useless. She brought the hoof down and hissed in agony. _This will take some time to heal._ Bringing the weapon before her, she groaned at its pitiable state. The haft of Celestia's oldest, and most favorite weapon from the Dragon Wars was broken about a hoof from the head, and the blade itself was warped into a bowl-like shape. "'Tia shall _slay_ us..."

(\ /)

( . .)

*(")(")

Twilight peeked around the corner, but could find no sign of enemies. She was about to step out into the passage, when somepony from behind grabbed her tail, halting her in her tracks. The librarian looked back to see Spitfire holding said tail in her teeth. Dropping it, the pegasus whispered, "Hon, don't you find this all a little... convenient? We haven't seen hide nor hair of opposition since that weird treasure room."

Putting a hoof to her chin, Twilight considered this. "Hm, I think you're on to something there. These tunnels _are_ better worked than the others, suggesting they're more important. More important suggests more traffic, yet there's nothing." She looked at her with concern. "You think it's a trap?"

Spitfire ran a hoof through her mane. "If not, then it's an awful big coincidence."

"What do you suggest?" Twilight whispered.

Licking her lips, the Wonderbolt practically growled out, "Don't have much choice, do we? We _must_ get Cheery back, as well as help anypony else stuck down here." She took a deep breath and let it out quietly. "I suggest we proceed as we have, but the moment we're spotted, we rush 'em. Hopefully, we'll still have that much surprise on our side."

Twilight nodded. "I guess that's the best we can do. Until we know what we're dealing with, we just have to stay loose and flexible, girls." She looked to Trixie. "Still got the crystal, Trixie?"

Trixie parted her mane, showing the now glowing gem weaved into it. "Of course! Trixie will be ready to do her part with Spitfire."

Twilight gave a nervous smile and kissed both her mares. "Let's get going, then."

With a final nod from everypony, they proceeded down the tunnel, pausing at an open doorway. Just as Twilight was about to peek around the corner, the entire wall next to which they were standing, seemingly _melted_ into the ground, and new walls erected themselves, blocking off the passageway. Where the wall once stood, was now open to a much larger room. Sitting on a throne of solid gemstone, Black Diamond sat, looking almost bored. At his feet, lay the ponies he had captured, all muzzled and chained to the ground. Cheerilee lay with her head on his lap, while Cloudchaser, sporting some new bruises and cuts lay prone on the ground on the other side, and Plain Sight was serving as a cushion for his feet. Arrayed around them, stood many crystal golems; these being much bigger than the ones they saw earlier, and armed with crystalline weapons.

Cheerilee's eyes went wide, seeing her friends and lovers standing there. Black Diamond gestured to them in welcome. "Ponies! So glad you could make it." He grinned evilly at the intruders. "Welcome to your doom-"

Before he could even finish his monologue, the ponies charged in, meeting with the golems who charged them in return. Applejack ran at a golem, swiveling around in mid-step to land a buck right into its chest, shattering it with a, "Yeehaw!" before it could even raise its weapon. Fluttershy stopped in front of a golem and gave it her angriest stare. The construct staggered back a step before melting into the ground and out of sight.

Rainbow Dash flew around the golems, bobbing and weaving through a deadly slalom course, narrowly avoiding strikes from their weapons and fists. "Come on, that the best you got?" she jeered. A golem ran up to Pinkie-Pie, only to be stopped when her party cannon fired off a blast, covering it in cake batter. As it slipped onto its back, she looked down the barrel and scratched her head, saying, "I could have _sworn_ I baked the cakes this time."

Rarity grinned at the three facing her down. "I say, you three will look absolutely _stunning_ on my dresses! Just hold still, if you please, this won't hurt a bit." Her horn lit up in the familiar light blue aura, and disassembled the golems, neatly stacking the gemstones beside her. "Well, it didn't hurt _me_, anyway," she quipped. Trixie and Spitfire stood back to back, the unicorn pelting golems with a dissonance spell that sent waves of energy through them. By the time they reached Spitfire, a single touch from her was enough to shatter the automatons.

In the middle of it all, Twilight stood, glaring at Black Diamond, her horn's glow growing brighter. The light became too bright for anypony to see her face, and a wave of energy cascaded out from her, shattering every golem in the room. Shards and chunks as large as a pony's head fell to the ground like rain. "Give it up, whoever you are. You're outmatched."

The dog rose to his hind legs, and stepped down from the dais, letting Cheerilee's heavy chain drag her head down to the floor again with a thud eliciting a whimper from her. Rising to his full nine-and-a-half hoof height, he said, "Black Diamond give up to ponies?" He clenched a paw and his eyes glowed white. "Never!" he hissed. Bringing both paw up like a conductor, the crystals reformed into golems, this time, each of them composed of a kaleidoscope of gemstones, and were joined by more golems that formed from the rock of the cavern. Pointing at his adversaries, he said, "Crush them! I want to dine on their bones!"

The golem waded in, swinging away at the ponies. Each time a golem was shattered, it became easier to break apart again, but Black Diamond wasn't letting up. As soon as it was shattered, he reassembled it and pulled another from the surrounding rock. "Yes! Fight ponies, fight! Struggle to survive! Your defiance will make my victory all the sweeter!" he laughed maniacally.

"What do you want from us, Black Diamond? What did we ever do to you?" Twilight shouted as she brought down four golems at once with an energy wave that neatly bisected them. "What do you gain from this?"

"I gain _revenge_!" Black Diamond foamed at the corners of his mouth as he shouted at them. "Revenge for defeat at your hooves, Magic!"

Twilight looked at him incredulous. "Revenge? We've never even _met_ you before! What did we ever do to you?"

Black Diamond howled with laughter, clearly losing control now. When his eyes met his archenemy's, the slitted pupils made her gasp in recognition. "Oh, we've met before, Magic. Perhaps you remember me as an alicorn of darkness? Or do you remember meeting my other... _works of art_?"

Recoiling in surprise, Twilight shouted, "Chrysalis!"

He grinned at her, foamy drool dripping from his mouth. "Yes! One of my finer moments!" The mad dog tilted his head to the side almost ninety degrees with a sickening crack. "It's not easy to influence a hive mind like hers, you know. I had to be a lot more subtle than I like. But it was worth it, in the end. It was unfortunate that she threw off my yoke all those millennia ago, but I was overjoyed to see that the effects of my influence linger within her to this day!"

"What _are_ you?" Twilight yelled.

"Come now," Black Diamond growled, "Haven't you guessed my true name yet? I suppose I can't blame you," he said, putting a claw to his chin in mock thought. "It _has_ been over three thousand years after all."

Twilight grinned at him. "Gotcha!" She teleported over to Cheerilee's side, and teleported all three captured mares back to the rescuers. "Now, Trixie!"

Without a word, the showmare's horn glowed, and a purple glowing crystal floated out of her mane. With a flash of light, all three prisoners, Spitfire, and herself teleported out with a pop. Black Diamond howled with rage. "Noooo! Where did they go? What did you do with my prisoners?"

"They're out of _your_ reach, Nightmare!" Twilight shouted in triumph. "Your current host may be a master at earth magic, but it has no influence over what's in the air. All I had to do was to wait for your attention to slip enough for me to teleport them out of your grasp."

A low, throaty rumble emanated from Black Diamond's throat, and his reptilian eyes glowered at her. "I'll have my revenge..." he growled quietly. **"I'LL HAVE MY REVENGE!"** He put his paws up in the air, and the room began to rumble and shake, nearly knocking the earthbound ponies off their hooves, as the rock of the cavern began to glow with a yellowish light. **"THERE'S NO ESCAPING NOW! I'LL PUT AN END TO YOU IF I HAVE TO CONSUME THIS BODY TO DO IT! PREPARE YOURSELF, ****_MAGIC_****. I SHALL BE YOUR DOOM!"**

The cavern roof began collapsing on them all; the crystal golems standing motionless, forgotten in Black Diamond's rage. The ponies stood unafraid, all looking to Twilight, whose eyes glowed white with power. The six of them levitated from the floor, the Elements of Harmony magically appearing on their necks or head as appropriate. The jewels decorating the artifacts shone with the brightness of a thousand smiles, a thousand promises upheld, a thousand orphans given a loving home, a thousand ponies given a hoof up, a thousand truths told despite the consequences... a thousand hearts filled with the joy of friendship.

Faced with such power, the evil that was the Nightmare stood no chance. Too weak from its previous defeat, and too much energy expended on this venture, the Nightmare evaporated as a black wisp of smoke under the onslaught of the rainbow of magic that was friendship.

The effect all this destruction had on the cavern itself was predictable. As the room began to collapse totally, the six ponies and one diamond dog vanished, letting the upper levels of the castle ruins above settle into their new home.


	12. Chapter 12

**I WOULD DO ANYTHING FOR LOVE**

* * *

Chapter 12: But I Won't Do That

* * *

Spitfire staggered under the combined weight of three mares. "Anytime now, Trixie," she said with a grunt.

Sitting on Spitfire's back, Trixie said nothing, and just concentrated on the floating crystal before her. It shed a purple glow that slowly encompassed herself and the two earth ponies resting on top of her. When the glow faded, she touched a hoof to the cloud on which Spitfire and Cloudchaser stood, or sat in the latter's case, and found that it had a spongy give to it, but was otherwise solid enough to support her. With a smile, she levitated the unconscious Plain Sight, allowing Cheerilee to slide off her back so that she may herself slide onto the cloud from Spitfire's back.

With all the gentle care of pony moving a pyramid of crystal glasses, the showmare set the gravely wounded mare onto the cloud. Cheerilee checked her pulse and breathing, and grimaced at the wheezes and thready pulse. She looked to the others, worry written on her face. "She needs a hospital. I only know some first aid in case one of my students gets hurt. There's nothing I can do for her, especially without a kit."

Spitfire flew to one side of the cloud, saying, "I got this. I just need one of you to direct me."

"I'll help," Cloudchaser said.

"Not with that wing, you're not," Spitfire replied. The lilac mare looked to her obviously broken and defeathered wing with mournful eyes. Peeking over the edge, she said, "Trixie, you be my eyes."

Trixie pointed to the horizon, saying, "Turn right forty-five degrees, then go straight."

With a nod, the Wonderbolt turned the cloud to the right. "Forty-five degrees, aye." She took a deep breath when she stopped, then said, "Everypony hold on to your butts."

She started out slow, but quickly gained speed, heading for the lights of civilization and hopefully, help.

(\ /)

( . .)

*(")(")

Luna rushed through the catacombs, desperate to find any of the missing ponies or her guards. It wasn't long before she found the first of her guards, lying on the floor, surrounded by shattered gemstones. She could hear the echoing sound of battle coming from further in, and saw a hole in the wall, that appeared to be broken in from the other side. The Princess came up to the fallen pony, and breathed a sigh of relief to see that he was still alive.

The stallion opened his eyes and moaned out, "They're... further in..." before falling back into unconsciousness.

With a nod, the night mare flew into the tunnels after casting a quick spell upon him to float him back up to the surface. Luckily, the tunnels were well lit from the glowing crystal veins throughout. It was just as well she had to fly due to her bad leg. The floor was scattered with sharp shards of crystal that would have surely cut her hooves, shod or not.

The sounds of battle grow louder until she rounds a corner, and is face-to-face with her guards fighting full-tilt with the crystal golems. Her ponies seem to not only be holding their own, but actually advancing the skirmish line slowly. Commander Vigil saw her approach and broke off from the battle, letting the line close behind him. He stopped in front of her with a salute. "Your Highness! Are you alright? You're wounded!"

Luna shook her head at him. "Neigh, Commander. We wilt be fine, given time. Sooth, we art more concerned about thee and Lady Sparkle."

The stallion nodded, but couldn't help but give her injured leg a wary eye. He had seen many grave injuries in his time as a guardspony, that he could recognize life altering trauma when he saw it. "As you can see, we've met with some light resistance. They're not hard to break apart, but there seems to be no end to them."

"Hast thou seen any sign of Lady Sparkle yet?" She asked.

He shook his head sadly. "Afraid not, my Liege. We can only presume that she didn't come this way, and-" He was interrupted by a sudden silence, and he turned to see the golems had stopped moving. Several of the ponies took the initiative to smash those that they could reach. All action ceased, however, when a rumble that was more felt than heard gave everypony pause. The rumble escalated quickly into a vicious quaking, knocking several surprised soldiers off their hooves.

When the rocks began to fall from the ceiling, Luna shouted, "Gather hither, my little ponies. We shalt take thee to the surface." When they had all gathered around her, she teleported them to the surface, just outside of the ruins. It was lucky that it happened then, because they all saw the ruins themselves begin to collapse inward, a large crater forming in the middle of them. Luna cried out, "Neigh! Sirius! Procyon!"

She flew over to the the place where she had left them lying unconscious, and watched in horror as they disappeared into the cave in. Without a thought given to herself, she dived in, dodging rocks and debris, trying to grab onto some part of them. It felt like forever before she got a clean line of sight on both of them lying amongst the boulders, and enveloped all three of them within a bubble of magical energy.

It was fortunate she did that, because the rocks kept falling, battering against her hastily erected shield in such numbers, that she couldn't maintain upward movement. Looking up, she saw to her great apprehension, the sky was already blocked by rocks and boulders, cutting her view from her precious night sky and moon.

Settling down onto the rocks herself, she nuzzled the star beasts, and breathed a sigh of relief to note that they still lived. Luna winced at a sudden stab of pain, and noted that her wound had reopened, and was bleeding profusely. She staggered around, lightheaded from blood loss and exertion both physical and magical. With a grunt, she crumpled to the ground, not even noticing her magical bubble dissipating, leaving a neat dome shaped space for the three of them.

Sirius opened his eyes, looking upon the moon princess with great affection. "_Oh, Milady. What have you done to yourself?"_

Procyon stirred next to him. "_What... has happened? The... alpha is no longer in my head."_ She turned to her mate with a curious expression. "_Sirius?"_

The larger dog said nothing, only gazing at Luna. Finally, he stood on shaky legs, and in one gulp, swallowed her whole. Procyon looked on in shock, unable to say anything. Sirius's form became indistinct, until only a fine trace of stardust was left behind. It took a moment for Procyon to get over her shock and follow his exit, leaving their shelter to crumble behind them.

(\ /)

( . .)

*(")(")

Celestia's step faltered, sending her careening into a bookshelf in Twilight's library. A few of the tomes were knocked from the shelves, raining down on the little dragon who had been sorting them as they all waited for word on the unicorn or her friends. "Ow, hey!" Spike cried out.

The alicorn brought a hoof to her head, eyes wide in shock. "No! The Nightmare!" Unable to hold her balance any longer, she slid down the side of the shelf, her legs folding underneath her.

Rushing to her side, Cadance called out to her. "Auntie! What's wrong?"

Celestia flailed about, sending both dragon and alicorn out to a safer distance before they could be kicked. She tried to regain her hooves, only to fall over again, leaving her to try to crawl towards the door. "The Nightmare has returned! I can feel it! It's-"

Cadance braved personal injury and cradled the diarch's head, trying her best to soothe her. "Ssshhh... It'll be okay, Auntie. Twilight can handle it. She's done it before, she can do it again."

Spike looked on in fear. "You mean that Nigh-"

He was silenced by a stare from Cadance, who then continued to coo at the alicorn in her hooves, trying to reassure her. It was a few tense moments that had all three of them in tears until she had finally calmed down with a couple of quiet sobs.

Celestia wiped her runny nose with a hoof. "It's gone," she said with a sniffle. Cadance and Spike looked at her, fear stamped across their faces. "I... the Nightmare is gone. I... can't feel it anymore. Before, it was always there in the back of my mind, but now..." She looked Cadance in the eyes, tears of joy leaking from hers. "It's finally over."

(\ /)

( . .)

*(")(")

"I told you, Freaky. They looked suspicious, so I kept an eye on them as best I could." Aura said with a ragged cough. "Unfortunately, I couldn't watch them _and_ run my booth, and the others were far too busy.

The roan mare paced in front of the wizened, old griffoness, who was seated on a bleacher in front of Trixie's stage, mug of warm cider in her talons. "If they were suspicious enough to watch, then why didn't you come to me with your concerns? You know I would listen to anything you have to say."

Aura sighed in defeat. "Call it an old bird's vanity. I'm not quite sure why I did that."

Freaky stopped pacing and looked her oldest friend in the eye. They held their positions for many minutes before the Ringmaster sighed and sat down on a bleacher in front of the griffoness and fiddled with the buttons on her uniform's coat. Running a hoof through her unusually untidy mane, she asked, "It was one of _those_ things, wasn't it?"

Arching an eyebrow, Aura questioned, "_Those_ things?"

"You know, one of those things where you saw that if you hadn't acted the way you did, it would have turned out worse?" Freaky watched the old griffon calmly take a long draught of her cider and stretch out a hind leg, letting the joints pop loudly. Freaky stood and kicked a metal pail, sending it flying into the lake nearby. "Confound it, Aura! Are we _ever_ going to be able to talk about this without all these cloak and dagger horseapples?" She sat down again with a sigh. "What _can_ you tell me about all this?"

"Exactly what I've already told you," Aura replied. "I honestly know nothing else about them beyond that. I don't know their real names, I don't know their motivations, I don't even know if they got what they were after." She smiled at Freaky slyly. "I do know one other thing that I haven't told you, though."

This time, it was Freaky's turn to arch an eyebrow. "Oh? And what's that?"

Aura nodded in a direction behind the mare. "Your aggravations for the day are not yet over."

Freaky turned in the indicated direction to see her lover and publicity manager running up to her, a harried look on his face. She put her face into her hooves and groaned. "Oh, Celestia, why me?"

Gasping as he skidded to a halt in front of her, Public Face wheezed out, "Freaky! Freaky! You gotta come quick! The hippocampi've taken a local and won't give him back!"

"What do you mean, '_taken_ a local'?" Freaky asked incredulously.

Public Face gasped, "I mean-"

"Never mind! I'll get to the bottom of this!" With that, she stormed past a quivering stallion, and made her way to the shore of the lake. With the water lapping up to her fetlocks, she shouted, "Scylla! Charybdis! Get out here, right now!" She stomped her hoof in emphasis, not caring about the water she splashed on herself.

It didn't take long for two equine heads to pop above the surface. The light blue one looked to the light green one, saying, "Why sister, I do believe she is upset with us!"

"Nonsense, sister! For what reason would she be upset? We've done no wrong," the green one replied.

Freaky groaned inwardly at their verbal sparring. "Don't feed me that line, Scylla. Public Face has already told me of your new hobby. Why are you two foalnapping ponies now?"

The light green creature put a fin-like hoof to her chest in mock hurt. "Foalnapping? We'd never have to resort to such measures, right sister?" she asked, looking to her sibling.

The light blue one nodded and wiped away an imaginary tear. "Indeed, sister. It's like she's implying we're unattractive. Here we are, rescuing ponies falling to their deaths, and she accuses us of heinous deeds!"

Rolling her eyes, Freaky said, "Oh, knock it off, Charybdis. What did you mean by 'rescuing ponies'? Who did you rescue?"

Charybdis smiled coyly at her. "Only our beloved, our soulmate, our husband-to-be."

"Our?" Freaky asked with a raised eyebrow.

The blue pony pulled her sister close into a hug. "My sister and I. Whom else could I mean? There _is_ nopony else in this tiny lake."

Freaky brought a hoof to the bridge of her nose and pressed down. "Could you... could you please just bring him up? I need to talk to him."

Scylla flipped her cyan and magenta stripped mane from in front of her eyes. "You have your own beloved, leave us to ours." Charybdis added a raspberry to the conversation for good measure.

"I'M NOT-" she yelled before catching herself and taking a calming breath. "I'm not trying to steal him from you, I just want to talk to him. Now, bring him up here, before I add seahorse to the manticore's menu."

"Well!" Charybdis huffed. "No need to get rude."

They disappeared below the waves, and were gone for several minutes before returning with a bubble held up between them. Inside the bubble was a sky-blue pegasus wrapped up in bandages. As the bubble cleared the water, it popped, allowing him to take wing. He shakily flew a few hooves to land in front of Freaky. He almost saluted, but caught himself in time. "Um, nice to meet you, Ma'am. My name is High Hide. Seeing as these lovely ladies," he looked back and the sisters who giggled and waved at him, "seem to think of you as a mother figure, I was hoping to get your permission to marry them."

Freaky was so astonished, she sat down in the lapping water of the lake.

(\ /)

( . .)

*(")(")

A Luna composed of stars and the moon looked around in sleepy astonishment. Adrift in a sea of stars, she lazily turned over and came face-to-face with a pair of familiar, now much smaller, canines. "Sirius? Procyon? What is..."

"We had to bring you to the firmament, Milady," Sirius replied. "You were gravely wounded, and we were buried underground for some strange reason."

Looking to her injured leg, the Princess saw her starry form viciously torn. Where her leg should be, was only a mangled nub that trailed off into a wispy tail. "Oh, dear."

Procyon approached, crawling on her belly and nuzzled her. "I apologize for my words and actions earlier. It's just... that _thing_ was more than a little rough when it asserted dominance over us. I did not wish to go through such a trial again, and so, was a little... overeager to carry out his orders."

Knowing how canines "asserted dominance", Luna repressed a shudder as she returned the gesture. "We art sorry that We couldst not arrive sooner. We wish We could have spared thee such a low fate."

The star beast whined and licked at her wound, sending a jolt of pain through the alicorn that quickly changed to a soothing numbness.

Luna looked down from her place in the Vault of Heaven onto Equestria, trying to find a certain group of ponies. "Hath thee seen any sign of the Elements of Harmony? Pray, be round and of glad tidings, for our sister wouldst surely lay us low were We to lose them eft."

"I'm afraid not, Milady," Sirius answered. "We knew the beast was after them, especially the purple one, but we didn't see any sign of them."

The alicorn looked to Procyon, still licking the now almost fully healed leg. She flexed the muscles, causing the dog to look up at her. "Many thanks, dear Procyon," she said with a nuzzle. "We shalt be able to walk at least, now." With that, she stood, towering over the smaller dogs and looked down on Equestria once more. She still couldn't find any sign of Twilight, but she did spot some ponies that needed her. "Alack, We art needed below at the ruins of the castle. We shalt confer on tonight's transpirations anon."

"Milady!" Sirius cried out, halting her in mid-manifestation. He looked chagrined at his outburst, but still looked her in the eye. "Do you have any idea when she might return?"

It took a moment for Luna to work out what he meant. She sighed and shook her head sadly. "We art afraid not, dear pup. We council thee to keep to thy patience." With that, she spread her wings and faded into a swirl of moondust. Procyon looked to her mate, then nuzzled him sadly with a whine.

(\ /)

( . .)

*(")(")

"There it is!" Trixie shouted. "Three points west by northwest, down plane twelve degrees." She silently blessed Twilight for teaching her the spell for her magical sensor, this particular one, giving her absolute range and direction sense.

Spitfire nodded. "Cheerilee, Cloudchaser, hold onto our passenger. We don't want her falling off," she said. Not bothering to wait for their confirmation, she pushed up on the rear of the cloud, aiming it down towards the ground. Finally able to see where they were going, Spitfire peeked over the edge of the cloud, taking note of the building growing larger by the second. She could clearly see the words "Ponyville General Hospital" on the side.

The cloud came to a halt in front of the emergency room entrance, and Trixie hopped off to dash in. She ran to the night desk of the empty waiting room and shouted, "We need help! We have three injured ponies, one of them pregnant!"

Nurse Redheart immediately jumped into action, slamming a hoof onto the emergency buzzer three times before running out with the unicorn. She walked through the cloud and started taking the vitals on the most obviously wounded of the trio. It took only a few seconds before more ponies swarmed out with wheeled stretchers, working quickly to get the injured parties inside.

When Cheerilee, who had insisted on being last to be seen by the doctor, was wheeled in, Spitfire shoved the cloud away, letting it drift back into the sky. She went inside to follow them, but was stopped at an interior door along with Trixie by a large green stallion in an orderly's scrubs. "I'm sorry, Ma'am," he was saying to Trixie, "but you can't go in to the examination rooms. Family only. Just let the doctor's do their thing. They know what they're doing."

"Do you _know_ to whom you are speaking, peasant?" she practically shouted. "The great and powerful Trixie stands before you! Quake in fear, for those who oppose her are not long for this world!"

Spitfire grabbed her shoulder and dragged her into the waiting room. "Come on, G-and-PT. Let's go wait for Twilight to show up."

"This isn't over, plebeian foal!" she shouted before being sat down in a chair by the golden pegasus. "The great and powerful Trixie bows to but one mare, and _you_ are not she!"

What followed was the longest wait of their lives as the two mares sat and worried for their herdmates. Trixie kept glancing at the clock on the wall every few seconds and biting her lower lip. She was shocked from her vigil when she felt something cover her hoof, which was currently gripping the edge of her chair like a lifeline. Looking down, she saw a golden hoof and followed it up to Spitfire's face. The Wonderbolt gave her a warm, but worried smile, then kissed her cheek. Trixie blushed, but returned the smile with one of her own, albeit, just as worried.

Their peace was shattered by a flash of light just outside. This was quickly followed by Twilight and four of her friends. Her marefriends ran up to nuzzle her. "How is she?"

Spitfire shrugged. "We don't know. They took her into the examination room and won't let us in. Something about family only."

A determined look came over Twilight's face. "Oh, we'll see about _that_." She walked up to the orderly, and didn't even bother to say anything to him. She simply encased him within a giant, magenta ball of energy and rolled him out of the way. She walked through a few steps before turning around. "Would you girls mind waiting here? Somepony needs to talk to the Princess when Rainbow returns with her." Turning to Trixie and Spitfire, she said, "Come on. Let's go see our marefriend."

The three of them walked through the hallway, past several open doors before Twilight stopped them. Looking in, they saw Cheerilee, looking very worried, and a unicorn doctor standing next to her with his horn glowing.

They tiptoed in just as the doctor's horn stopped glowing. "I'm sorry, Miss, but we're going to have to call in a specialist for this." He looked up to see the new arrivals. "What are you- Miss Sparkle? What are you doing here? Are you related to this mare?"

Twilight laid a hoof on the earth pony's foreleg, who looked to her with adoring eyes. "Yes. That is, we soon will be."

The stallion pushed his glasses up his nose. "I see. I suppose it is fortuitous that you _are_ here then. I'm doctor Code Blue. It seems that some fool has cast some powerful enchantments upon this pregnant mare, and it's having an adverse effect on the fetus."

All the color drained from the mares' faces. "Wha-" Twilight gulped. "What do you mean, doctor? What's wrong with my baby?"

He gave her a placating gesture. "Now, remain calm. The spells haven't affected the fetus's health... yet." He winced at the whimper coming from the audience. "But they have latched onto it in a way that I can't dispel. I was about to send for a specialist since I can't even determine _which_ spells were used, let alone how to _dismiss_ them. Perhaps you can shed some light on this?"

The bottom dropped out on Twilight's world. "I- I- I- I was the origin of those spells."

"What?" the doctor yelled. "Miss Sparkle, surely you realized the dangers of using magic on fetuses this early in development!"

"I had no choice!" Twilight yelled back. "It was that, or lose _both_ of them! I _tried_ to work the spell so that it would affect the baby as little as possible, but I was working under pressure! I couldn't... I..." The unicorn collapsed halfway onto the bed, weeping into Cheerilee's foreleg.

Code Blue sighed. "I suppose you did what you could, and what you felt was right. Being that I wasn't there, I can hardly fault you when I don't know the whole story." He grabbed a box of tissues and hoofed it over to her. "I apologize. Could you tell me exactly which spells were used on her?"

Twilight loudly blew her nose. "Well.." she began nervously, "there was a t- t- teleport." The doctor's eyes widened. "Followed by another, much farther away." They grew wider still. "Then a modified cloudwalking spell." The stallion swallowed nervously. "I'm not sure what, if anything was cast on her before we rescued her."

The doctor sat down heavily in a chair behind him. "Hoo-boy. This... is a lot more complicated than I had thought. We're going to have to send for somepony from the Magical Mishaps department of the medical academy."

The lavender unicorn slammed a hoof down onto the bed with a muffled thump. "No! There's no time! As we speak, the spells could be doing irreparable harm to my filly! _I'll_ do it!"

"Miss Sparkle, I know you're very capable, but this is something we need to leave to the experts," Doctor Blue replied.

"With all due respect, doctor," Twilight said sternly, "I am _the_ expert on magic. I don't mean to brag, but I have made it my life's work to understand magic in _all_ it's forms. Now back off! I'm a scientist!"

Twilight closed her eyes and her sensor made another appearance, this time glowing with a golden light. She turned to Cheerilee, basking in the warm glow of love being sent her way by the teacher. She turned her gaze to the womb, where the vortices of magical spells had anchored themselves. Her Cloudwalking spell was still active and direly close the the baby's still forming magical core. She recognized the damage her hasty teleportation spells had wrought, but sighed with relief to note that they were easily repaired. What had her worried was a black bit of magic attached to the baby's soul.

It was clearly not anything that Twilight or Trixie had cast, which only left one possible origin. _Nightmare... I won't let you take our baby away. She is ours, not the vessel for your rebirth._ It took her a few moments of examination from all sides to determine just what she was dealing with. _Looks like a Soul Anchor. I've never seen one attached this strongly before. This... is going to be tricky._

Her thoughts were interrupted by the radiance of a powerful being. Turning to look behind her, Twilight saw what could only be Celestia. The figure was a pony _and_ the sun, simultaneously. Her mane and tail trailed off to join with the sun, and the sun's prominences roiled out to form the alicorn. It was dizzying trying to figure out where one ended and the other started, or even which was the most important. The librarian's mind whirled with the possibilities of existing as two separate entities at the same time such as these. _No, that's not quite right. Celestia is the sun and the sun is Celestia. It's like..._

Further consideration was stymied by the heavenly voice that had guided Twilight throughout most of her life. "Twilight, are you alright?"

Even with just those four words, Twilight was almost stunned with the amount of love they carried. Love and... sadness? "Yes, I'm fine, Princess. I was just trying to see what I can do to fix the damage these spells did to our foal." She silently promised herself to talk to her mentor later about what she's just seen.

Celestia's form exploded in brilliance as she cast a spell, causing the unicorn to shield her sensor. When the dazzling effect had passed, a similar sensor glowed in front of the Princess's face. The alicorn looked down on the earth pony and gasped quietly. "A Soul Anchor? Is it..." She didn't have the courage to give voice to her fear.

Twilight nodded, grim determination etched into her features. "It is, but I won't let anything hurt our child." Her face softened just a little. "But I could sure use a hoof here. I may be well versed in many forms of magic, but having an expert in biomancy and psychomancy would be of inestimable help."

Nodding, the alicorn stepped up next to her protégé and closely examined the small life fighting for survival. "Oh dear. It seems to have infused itself down to the fourth harmonic level."

"I know," Twilight replied. "I was going to try prying it loose with a Psyche Extraction spell, but it will go better with your eyes to guide me." Celestia just nodded and they got to work. Under her mentor's guidance, the unicorn cast her spell, locking firmly onto the parasite spell so that it could not worm its way further in while they worked. With gentle care and a surgeon's touch, they slowly peeled away each tendril that had so cruelly latched on.

It was painstaking and tedious work, and they couldn't afford to tear their attention away from their task for fear of losing the child altogether. Each time a tendril was pried loose, Celestia would burn it away with a micro burst of superheated plasma, one of the few things that seemed to be able to hurt it. When at last, the final bit of the Soul Anchor spell had been separated from the soul, Celestia readied a blast to rid the world of this taint forever; but her hoof was stayed by her Faithful Student. "Twilight?"

"I... I think we can put this to better use than simply destroying it, don't you?"

The pleading tone and hurt in Twilight's voice gripped her heart with an icy squeeze. With a sigh, the Princess nodded. "I know just where to put it." She shone, not as she did when casting magic, but with a more primal light coming more from the sun side of her being. The bit of magic lightened in color going from inky black all through the spectrum until it glowed a bright yellow, then disappeared.

They turned their attention to the tiny, wounded soul before them, and grimaced at the damage the spell had wrought. Weakened by all the magics placed upon it, the poor, weak thing had been crushed and squeezed, until it was just a mangled, twisted mass. Tears came to Twilight's eyes and she looked up at the one pony she trusted to make everything right with the world.

Celestia smiled down at her favored pony. "I can help, but there may be... lingering effects."

"Will she be... healthy?" Twilight asked.

With a wry smile, the Princess replied, "I think you'll be surprised at how... robust her constitution will be."

Twilight looked to Cheerilee, who had been laying back throughout the procedure, radiating her love and concern. "Cheery?"

The teacher nodded her assent. "We have to give her every chance we can." She looked to her herdmates. "Right?"

Trixie and Spitfire were holding each other, giving each other strength in a way that even they were unaware of. Twilight and Celestia could see the way they fed one another affection, each bolstering the other's flagging strength, creating a whole greater than the sum of its parts. That strength fed into every pony in the room, but the connection was strongest with Twilight and Cheerilee. The librarian was almost overwhelmed by the intensity of love coming from them, and would have staggered, had she not been leaning against the hospital bed where Cheerilee lay. Years from now, when she was feeling down, or lonely; she would think back to this cherished moment, and know that she was part of something truly great.

The two mares nodded their approval, and the luminosity of their feelings doubled. Twilight was almost overcome by the feeling welling up in her chest, so she turned to Celestia, and nodded. She watched as Celestia magically pinched off a tiny piece of herself and floated it over to the baby, encasing her soul with the bit of celestial star stuff. The weak, shriveled soul absorbed the newest addition like a sponge soaking up water. There was a moment of tense waiting, and then the baby's soul slowly started expanding, becoming fuller, and attained a sheen like well-polished gold.

After that, it was a simple matter for Twilight to repair the damage to her magical core as well as the bonds between it and the baby's soul and body; then dispel the Cloudwalking spell. Releasing the sensor, she opened her eyes again, and looked around the room at the ponies who had come to mean so much to her. All three of her marefriends tackled her into a hug as Celestia nuzzled her from above.

(\ /)

( . .)

*(")(")

As the early morning sunbeam traversed the room, it fell on the white alicorn humming to herself as she meticulously arranged the flowers in a vase. Plain Sight recognized it as the favorite foalhood song of a certain Ponyville librarian. She looked to Celestia and croaked out, "Did she ever tell you why she loves that song so much?"

Celestia turned to her with a knowing smile. "It's a little hard to miss the significance of singing 'You are my Sunshine' to the Princess of the sun." She levitated a glass of water with a straw over to her, giving a sip of much need moisture to her parched throat. "How are you feeling?"

"Like horseapples," she replied without thinking. As soon as the words left her mouth, she realized to whom she was speaking, and slapped a hoof over her mouth. "Pardon my Fancy," she apologized.

Running a hoof through the spy's mane, she smiled. "In the many millennia I have lived, I think I've heard that one once or twice. Believe me, my royal ears remain unsullied."

Plain Sight blushed and sunk further into her bed. "So..." She cast about for a less uncomfortable subject. "What happened to..."

"The Nightmare was destroyed by the Elements of Harmony, this time for good," Celestia answered. "I believe it will never bother Equestria again."

"So, it _was_ the Nightmare? What was it possessing? And what happened to it?" the gray mare asked.

Celestia floated a daffodil over to the patient, who took it gladly and munched on it. "Twilight says that she took care of that as well. She has a few other things she says she need to be done, but wants to wait until Cheerilee is settled back home."

"Oh." The disappointment in that single word was enough to cause the Princess to arch an eyebrow at her. "I... I suppose you'll be wanting my resignation as soon as possible for this fiasco."

"Actually," Celestia said with a grin. "I was hoping you'd stay on as Twilight's chief guardian. After fifteen years, you know her best, and can predict what she's likely to do."

"But I-"

"When dealing with the Elements of Harmony," the diarch interrupted, "I've found that disasters seem to follow them like a shadow." She looked out the window, watching a robin flit from branch to branch on a tree just outside. "The best the rest of us can do is to hold on and hope for the best." She turned back to the mare. "And of course, love and believe in them."

The spy digested this advice for a moment. "I... I'd still like a little time off. I've got some thinking to do, and... I think that putting a little space between she and I for a bit might do me some good. Give me some breathing space and time to get my head back in the game."

Celestia nodded. "Take as much time as you need."

(\ /)

( . .)

*(")(")

The timberwolf cautiously approached the forest edge, nervous about leaving its safety, especially considering its ultimate destination. She looked down at the bundle within the basket held in her teeth and sighed. She took a look around the cleared land and winced at all the stumps. It didn't take her long to spot the one she was looking for; the ax jutting from it at an acute angle made it hard to miss.

Normally, she wouldn't dare approach such a weapon, but the orders she was given by the near celestial being could not be refused. She cautiously slunk up to the stump and placed the basket next to it. When the weapon didn't leap to strike her down, she breathed a sigh of relief. Further into the clearing, she spotted the structure that was to be the new home for the bundle, and she shivered.

The rising sun shone down on the valley, clearly outlining the smoke coming from the chimney as the ponies who lived within the cabin began their day. The timberwolf gave one last gentle lick of her leafy tongue to the bundle, before deliberately jostling it with a paw, and dashing off into the forest again, leaving the bundle to wail as babies are wont to do when their rest is disturbed.

Once safely within the shade of the trees, she turned to watch as the crying attracted the attention of the pony couple, who ran out to the crying bundle in surprise. The female pegasus picked it up and cooed in wonderment, while the earth pony mare looked around for what could have left it. "Oh, Timberline! Isn't he beautiful?"

Timberline looked to the gray diamond dog pup in her wife's forelegs and scratched her head. "Well, yeah, he's cute and all, but where'd he come from, Whistler?"

The pegasus looked up at her with a smirk. "Does it matter? Now we can have a family like we've always wanted."

The earth mare followed Whistler as she flew the pup to their cabin, and shook her head. "A gift from Celestia, huh? I can live with that."

The timberwolf gave a lonely howl as she left, promising to return often.

(\ /)

( . .)

*(")(")

"Yah sure, you want to do this, sugarcube? Ah mean, they _did_ try to hurt yah pretty bad," Applejack asked for what felt like the millionth time.

Twilight nodded again. "Yes, I'm _quite_ sure Applejack. Celestia knows, I don't need this on my conscience too."

Rarity placed a hoof on Twilight's shoulder. "What Applejack means, darling, is that we just want to make sure they never try to hurt you like they did, ever again. We're _worried_ about you, Twilight."

"I know," she replied. "But I was so angry, that I did something that even just seconds after doing it, it started eating away at me. I can't leave it like this. This is the kind of thing that can _consume_ you from the inside."

The rest of her friends nod, and they all walked into the abandoned mine. It doesn't take them long to arrive at the room full of statues, currently being guarded by a group of pegasi royal guardsponies. Immediately, Twilight is overwhelmed with guilt, but swallowed it down. She breathed in deeply, and cast the spell to reverse her transmogrification.

Almost instantaneously, five minotaurs and two griffons stood where the seven statues were once. As one, they breathed in deeply like a drowning pony breaking the surface. They collapsed to the floor of the cavern, and looked to the purple unicorn standing before them. Even though she stood no taller than the knee of the smallest minotaur, she seemed to loom over them like a giant. The hard glint in her eyes may be real, or it may be imagined, but for them, that's enough.

"I have decided to be lenient with you. A single day has passed since your petrification, but I believe that's enough for you to realize what an eternity would be like." She paced in front of them like a matron in front of naughty children. "That is, of course, assuming you aren't placed somewhere, where erosion can add to the torment." She let that sink in, and Ava gulped audibly.

"Now, I am inclined to let it go, as long as I can extract a promise that you reform your ways, but that's not really in my hooves, anymore." Twilight gestured to the guards surrounding each of them with a hoof. "It seems you have committed several dire crimes while here in Equestria; crimes for which, you must answer. The Princess is willing to go easier on you, should you repent, not to me, but to her. I beg you to avail yourself of this... option. You do not want to spend the rest of your lives doing hard labor. I'm sure that mining is enough to crush a griffon's soul, or a minotaur's for that matter."

She turned her back to them and walked away, letting the guards close in on the perpetrators. "As far as I'm concerned, as long as we never meet again, this matter is closed."

(\ /)

( . .)

*(")(")

Twilight walked into the library, leaned against the door as it shut, and sighed as she slid down it. Almost before she hit the floor, Trixie was right next to her with a cup of steaming tea. "Welcome home."

They kissed each other on the cheek, and Twilight let her magical aura mingle with the showmare's as she accepted the drink. "Good to _be_ home." They both shivered as their auras interwove and caressed each other. Twilight looked around the empty room, asking, "Where's the others?"

"Spitfire is getting Cheerilee settled in to the bed upstairs," Trixie replied.

"And Spike?"

"He said something about helping the Crusaders," Trixie said with a smirk. "_Again_."

The librarian returned the smirk. "I wonder which one it is he likes." She thought about it for just a second before answering herself. "Probably Sweetie Belle. She looks too much like Rarity, I think."

Trixie helped her to stand up again and kissed a blushing Twilight's hoof before releasing it. "Personally, I think he'll take after you a lot more than that."

"Meaning?"

Turning away, Trixie let her tail wrap around Twilight's neck and slowly drag away as she walked off. "Meaning, ponies who look up to their siblings-slash-mother figures as much as he does, tend to, ah, 'carry on the family traditions', as it were."

Twilight spit out the tea in her mouth, barely missing the azure mare before her. Trixie, for her part, scampered off upstairs, laughing gaily, just ahead of a sputtering Twilight. Lavender caught up to azure just as they reached the door to their bedroom, and they tumbled in, and rolling on the floor laughing, until they came to a rest, Twilight pinning Trixie to the floor.

"Well you seem to be in a better mood, Hon." Spitfire meandered over to them, smiling wide. Her lips met Twilight's in a kiss that lingered so long, that Trixie had to remind them of their positions with a polite cough. The Wonderbolt bent down and gave her a quick tooth inspection with her tongue as well. "Sorry, didn't mean to leave you out of it."

"That's not exactly what Trixie meant," she said, "but gesture appreciated."

Cheerilee sat up in bed and watched them from the upper level. "I take it then, that things went well?"

She received a reluctant nod from Twilight. "About as well as can be expected. They're the Princess's problem now."

"And what about..." The teacher petered off, hesitant to mention his name.

"Rover?" Twilight asked. She received a nod in return. "The Princess said she was fine with what we did. She thinks, like we do, that giving him a second chance to grow up among ponies may be what he really needs. She promised to check up on him now and again." She walked the steps to the upper level, never taking her eyes off of the mare; Trixie and Spitfire close behind. She reached the top and reached over to hold her hoof. "How are you feeling?"

Cheerilee smiled at her with smoldering eyes. "Hale and hearty, and ready to show my appreciation for my three brave knights." She grabbed Twilight's hoof and pulled her into a kiss that left the other mare draped across her. That little bit of effort was all that was needed to signal their audience to climb onto the smallish bed.

Twilight pulled back, but each word was punctuated by another kiss. "Wait," kiss "I'll" kiss "make" kiss "the bed" kiss "bigger." kiss. Twilight's horn glowed, encompassing the whole bed, ans slowly, it grew large enough for all four of them to sleep side-by-side; or any _other_ activities they might like to try.

Trixie and Spitfire each took one of Cheerilee's nipples in their mouths, licking and nibbling at the little nubbins of flesh. The teacher moaned into Twilight's mouth and spread her hind legs wider, giving them all the access they might require. Twilight separated from her lover's mouth so that she might shower her face with quick, darting kisses and nips before settling on one ear and happily chewing on it gently so that they may all hear her delightful moans.

Azure lips met gold as both tried to be first to the maroon lips they bordered. Tongues came out as they took turns licking Cheerilee's outer lips, taking an occasional dive to her center in order to extract some nectar. When both of their mouths had gotten their fill, they pulled back and held the mare's hind legs up. "She's ready for you, Milady," Trixie said with false modesty.

Twilight looked down and grinned. "I think we'll forgo the magic penis for now, ladies. However, there is something I've been dying to try for years now." She walked around the helpless damsel below her and sat down at the "V". Motioning for them to spread the legs more apart than up, Twilight scooted forward, one leg slipping under Cheerilee's, while her other she laid over, until their marehoods touched, eliciting a hiss of pleasure from them both.

With agonizing slowness, Twilight began moving up and down, alternating with a side-to-side motion and pushing against her then pulling away. She discovered that if she managed it just right, their clits, those precious bundles of pleasure and nerves would sometimes slip _into_ each other's slits, dragging along the slick folds. Each time that happened, their vision would white out completely as their entire universe became the pleasure they gave one another.

Their partners were hardly idle, and stopped kissing each other, so they might start licking at the feast of love before them. They didn't even bother to take turns anymore, greedily lapping up what they could, even going so far as to steal the nectar from each other's tongues.

The tribbing mares took note of the tribute being paid to them, and decided that such devotion deserved a reward. Leaning over, they each pulled over a mare's rear end, and licked at the fonts of sweetness they found there. It didn't take much of this endless cycle of give and take until they all experienced a simultaneous orgasm that left them all panting for breath and coated in sweat.

The bed shrunk down again as Twilight lost her concentration, and the four of them snuggled closer so that nopony would fall off. "I still can't believe how lucky a mare I am," Twilight gasped out.

"Hon," Spitfire drawled, "your luck is only just starting."


End file.
